Caught Between Two Worlds
by platinum-breaker
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia is a second year student at Yousei Gakuen. She loves to read and write novels. As a matter of fact, she is currently writing a novel about adventure and magic. She is the perfect writer material but sometimes she can't draw a line between reality and her own novel called Fairy Tail. Did she hit her head badly when she got involved in an accident a year before?
1. Chapter 1

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 1<strong>

When Lucy woke up, she immediately checked whether there's a salmon-haired mage under her covers.

"_Oh."_

No salmon-haired guy in sight. How stupid. Of course there won't be some guy in her bedroom at six in the morning. That would be very absurd. And very inappropriate for a lady.

"I should stop mixing my stories with reality. Baka Lucy. Natsu Dragneel is a character for your story!" Lucy Heartfilia, a second year student at Yousei Gakuen chuckled at her vivid 'imagination'. _'Actually, why salmon for a hair color?' _She thought.

"Hmm thinking about it, Natsu would probably enter via the window to his partner's apartment – _of course without notice_ – and tucks himself in her bed. Then in the morning, she'll kick him hard on the face for sneaking in. Happy, the flying cat, would suddenly pop out with fish on his mouth—Oh dear, I should save this for later, I might miss my class!" Lucy hurriedly fixed her beddings and prepared for school.

After taking a bath, she put on her school uniform. Her uniform consists of a white collared shirt under a gray blazer with the school emblem on its breast pocket and a knee-length pleated black skirt. Then she fixed her blonde hair by putting it up into twin tails. After putting on her socks, she went to the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. _'Wouldn't risk leaving on an empty stomach. I might faint and Mama wouldn't want that.'_

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><p>Lucy Heartfilia is a seventeen year-old girl who lives alone on a condo unit that her mother insisted on giving to her. Layla Heartfilia, Lucy's mother, was the one who talked with her husband and Lucy's father, Jude Heartfilia to just let Lucy alone and that she'll take the responsibility upon doing so. After several attempts of convincing (courtesy of Layla) and running away (courtesy of Lucy), Lucy finally got her independence but on the condition that she had to accept what her mother will give her—and that was the condo unit.<p>

But even though she lives in a luxurious unit, Lucy works part time in order to fulfill her daily needs. She insisted that she have to earn her own money to survive because running away would seem pointless if she still relied on her family's fortune. She _**secretly**_ learned how to cook from the maids at the manor when she was young and she was able to expand her knowledge of the outside world because of books. The mansion had a very large library and currently, she was able to read almost three-fourths of the whole book population. She read books across all genres and languages so she's very well versed in literature. Also, her craving for independence was sparked by her beloved books.

Her favorite genre was fantasy and adventure. Sure, romance stories have some place in her heart but somehow, there's something in fantasy and adventure that pulls her in. And that weird feeling made her heart crave for her own adventure.

And after falling into coma one year ago, books were still her refuge in order to get a grip on the reality that was suddenly presented to her.

It all happened in the year 2013.

One year ago, Lucy Heartfilia was involved in an unknown accident. She went missing for seven days. The whole Heartfilia estate went on high alert knowing that their princess was missing. After a few days, she was found back in her own room, sleeping soundly with some scratches and wearing a tattered outfit coupled with a whip and key-like accessories that could be considered as cosplay for it is showy enough. Lucy's parents were crying (yes, even her father) after she was found. But unfortunately, she woke up seven months later.

**(Five months prior current time)**

_Layla Heartfilia was sitting near her daughter's bedside when noticed that Lucy have stirred a bit. Layla stood up knowing that it is time for Lucy to finally wake up and leaned closer to make so that her child won't miss her when she wakes up. "Lucy, my child…"_

"_M-M-Mama?" Lucy's eyes were wide open because of shock. She couldn't believe that her mother's alive! She's supposed to be dead in year X777! Examining the place, it looks unfamiliar. There were strange tubes connected to her body and she felt like she's missing something very important…_

"_Lucy? Are you alright?" Layla touched her daughter's forehead because of worry. _

'_I must be dead if my mother's greeting me like this.' Lucy closed her eyes once again and remembered a salmon-haired boy with a wide grin on his face. "Natsu…"_

_Layla flinched when her daughter uttered something unfamiliar. "My child, are you okay? Must have been because you've been sleeping for six months that your mind's all messed up. Do you want some meal? I'll have it fixed immediately—"_

"_S-six months!? That long?"_

"_Yes, my dear. You've been missing for a couple of days and then you were found in your room in a mess. What exactly happened?" Eyes of concern were evident on her mother's expression._

"_I—" Lucy clutched her head in pain as she tried to remember what happened to her._

"_Lucy!" Her mother held her in her arms in an attempt to soothe her sick daughter. "Don't worry, it's not important anymore. You're here now, so it's fine." Layla smiled as she hugged her daughter tightly._

"_Mama…"_

'_Why are you alive?' Lucy thought as she drifted to sleep once again._

Lucy recovered at a fast rate. After a month, she was out of the hospital. Immediately after that, she suddenly craved freedom. It seemed that when she was asleep, she dreamt about a lot of adventures and it was fun. So she spent time on the estate's library reading the remaining books about adventure and freedom. She also figured out that she should write a story of her own so sometimes whengood ideas pop out of her mind,she'll write it down and arrange it to form a story after a while. She has collected a lot of stories and considered that she should compile them properly in a novel. She realized that confining herself in the estate would restrict her capability to expand her imagination to write more interesting adventures so she wanted to get out of the manor and live freely. She wanted to taste independence on her own. She even named one of the characters for her adventure novel with her own so that she could really get into it.

On the third month, she finally went out of the manor and lived in her condo unit. And in the year 2014, the present, she was able to attend a new school that she herself has signed up on her own and without any connections from the Heartfilias.

In her new school, nobody treated her as an heiress. Why? It's because they didn't know she was one. All that her classmates know was she lives alone and works part time. She wasn't exactly hiding it (she did not even hide her last name) but she wasn't boasting about it either. Again, her independence would sound so stupid if she relied on her social status and other stuff concerning her family name.

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><p>"Why did I even think that my mother was dead back then?" Lucy raised a brow as she sipped on her chilled frappe which she bought a night before. She has fixed herself some omelette, bacon and sliced fruits for her breakfast. After eating, she put away the dishes to the sink and glanced at her wall almost splurted all the contents of her frappe when she figured out the time.<p>

"Crap! It's already 6:45!? Class is in 15 minutes!" Grabbing her bag and getting into her shoes, she closed the lights and headed for the door. Lucy panicked because she never gets late. Usually, she has a 30 minute grace period but it seems that her thoughts were more busy than ever and she actually spent so much time thinking.

"I'm off!" She smiled as if someone is watching her leave before closing the door.

And so Lucy Heartfilia ran as if her life depended on it.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi! Actually, this is my first ever multichapter fanfic in years. I was kinda hesitating to post this because I'm not yet done with writing the whole story (I'm currently on the seventh chapter, btw) and I'm afraid that I might not finish this. Gaaah I shouldn't jinx this :)) But I have the outline done so the only thing that I should do is to write! Haha. I'm not really fond of writing long author notes but I got the feeling that I just have to put one in here :))<strong>

**If my story seemed similar to other works (so far I haven't read a plot similar as mine... kinda), it's purely coincidental. Let me know if you're offended or something. I came up with this thing last May when my family moved to a new place and we did not have internet for a while so yeah this is purely from my head.**

**I'm not remarkable at grammar so I wish that you readers would understand. Thank you!**

**- platinum-breaker**

**p.s. I might post the next chapter when I finish writing a chapter (chapter 7 lol), okie? :) [example: when I finish writing chapter 8, I'll post chapter 3 and so on.] maybe... haha!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Here's chapter 2! Thanks for reading! (Even though I write crap and just ugh haha)**

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail**

**And have you seen chapter 393? I can't even fangirl and be sad at the same time gdi**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 2<strong>

"OH MY GOD I CANNOT BELIEVE I RAN 15 KILOMETERS IN 15 MINUTES!"

Lucy Heartfilia almost cried as she fell down on her knees by the classroom door due to exhaustion. Her classmates just sweatdropped in response to what happened to the blonde. Lucy was never late– Well, they thought maybe today's just not her lucky day. It's weird because their Lucky Lucy never has bad luck.

"Lu-chan! Are you okay?" Ami, her seatmate and close friend, patted her shoulder as Lucy was still trying to catch her breath.

"I-I think I'm okay now. Thanks Ami-chan!" She smiled sweetly at the brunette.

"My, my. Dear Lucy, if I had known, I could've fetched you on your home." A raven-haired boy smirked at the blonde.

"Oi Lester, shut up." Lester just laughed at Lucy's remark.

Lucy met Ami at the first day of classes. They were seatmates: Ami sat near the window while Lucy was on her right. They both love books and when the girls knew about their common interest, they just clicked. Ami has brown hair in a bob cut with ribbon clips on both sides of her hair. Her eyes are green and her lashes are naturally long. She is petite and quite short.

Lester on the other hand, fell in love with Lucy at first sight (but was also rejected immediately at first attempt on flirting with her—she was saying something about not being interested in the romances) but they became friends after that. Lester has short hair with gray orbs. He is very tall and is the ace of the school basketball team. He had a lot of fan girls but when Lucy arrived, he kept on 'pestering' her so he kind of…lost his charm?

Anyway, these two people were Lucy's common confidants in school. Yup, even if Lester has his own tendencies, there's still Ami to keep the balance and both of them kept Lucy at home in school Although according to Lucy, Lester's getting annoying with his antics.

"Lu-chan! Could you tell me another story from your novel?" After returning to their seats, Ami turned to Lucy with sparkles with her eyes. _'I guess I have to make up some more stories. This girl is so greedy for stories!'_ Lucy chuckled and put her bag into place. "What kind of story do you want, Ami-chan?"

"One of those Fairy Tail stories that you have! I wanna hear more about Natsu!"

Lucy sighed in defeat and scratched her head. "I can't really resist you, Ami-chan but—"

And then Lucy was interrupted by a sudden announcement. "**_First period's a self-study period because the teacher's_ absent!**"

"—I suppose we have enough time for a story, am I right?" Lucy smiled.

"Yay! I love you Lu-chan!" Ami moved her chair closer to Lucy so that she could hear her best friend's story.

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><p><em><strong>Natsu Dragneel is a salmon-haired (take note: not pink but SALMON – It's different according to the boy.) fire dragon slayer at the Fairy Tail guild. Oh, a dragon slayer is a mage who was taught magic by a real dragon. Natsu's dragon and foster father was Igneel. Unfortunately, he went missing on July 7, X777. Anyway, Natsu has pointed eyes with onyx orbs. He wears a dragon scale scarf on his neck. Him, together with his flying blue cat, Happy, goes on different jobs to have adventures and some jewels for food money. <strong>_

_**Natsu is a happy-go-lucky person. He gets involved into a lot of fights in the guild (especially with Gray Fullbuster, an Ice-make mage – a person who molds ice to create anything out of ice) but that's pretty normal in Fairy Tail. They're a rowdy bunch and that what makes it Fairy Tail.**_

_**But recently, the fights have receded because… Natsu was acting strange.**_

_**Ever since his female partner in Team Natsu disappeared, he became gloomy. He always takes missions alone (without his blue feline, Happy) and is only back for a few hours. Sometimes he goes back to the guild in a mess but he never minded the pain. He'll sit at the bar, ask Mirajane for a meal, grabs a mission then leaves for a few days. Before he wouldn't even eat but Erza beat him to pulp when she found out so he had no choice but to have proper meals. And then it became a routine.**_

"_**That flame-brain's in real deep shit." Gray mumbled. Miraculously, he still had his shirt on. He has developed a habit of stripping because of his training for his magic. But ever since their blonde team mate disappeared, his habit has decreased. Beside him was the water mage, Juvia Lockser who was looking at Gray lovingly. She treated that person as her 'love-rival' and was her very first friend in Fairy Tail. But she's getting worried at Gray's gradual change.**_

"_**Oh, you mean the whole guild's in deep shit." Cana, a card mage and daughter of Gildarts Clive who was the strongest S-class mage in Fairy Tail, retorted after gulping wine from her barrel. "Ever since she disappeared, he's been like that. And we've been miserable."**_

_**The whole guild became tensed and the mood became sour. Mirajane sighed as she looked at the guild's current appearance.**_

'_**Look at what happened to us, Lucy… I hope that someday you'll….' Mira shed a tear.**_

_**Meanwhile with Natsu, Happy has been trying to talk to him.**_

"_**Ne, Natsu…"**_

"_**Yeah?"**_

"_**Do you want to go to Lucy's apartment?"**_

"…"

_**Natsu stopped walking as if he was nailed in place. **_

"_**Sure, buddy." He patted the feline's head.**_

_**They headed for Strawberry Street to visit his partner's abandoned apartment. Lucy has been missing for a year. After they took a mission to defeat a dark mage named Kyrios, Lucy disappeared. They had defeated the dark mage but at the last minute when Team Natsu let their guards down, Kyrios casted a final spell on Lucy that made her disappear without a trace. Nobody knows what happened to Lucy since then. The guild was frantically searching for ways to contact Lucy but they always failed to find a proper solution. Months went by and the guild was running out of ideas on how to get their beloved celestial mage. Not long after, the guild was beginning to lose hope in finding their beloved nakama and stopped trying eventually. Except for a few people.**_

_**Natsu and Happy opened the door to her apartment. Lucy gave him a spare so that he'll stop coming by the window but he haven't used it much to Lucy's annoyance. Natsu chuckled at the memory of him being hit by Lucy's infamous move, the 'Lucy-kick' because he never used the door when coming to Lucy's apartment. She accepted the fact that they will go to her place unannounced but she really hoped that her team would use her fucking door. It's there for a reason, you know?**_

_**He stopped reminiscing and closed the door behind him after Happy came in. He carefully scanned the room for any signs of disturbance. Her things were untouched as proved by the accumulated dust by her workstation. Well, her bed was a different issue though.**_

"_**It…still smells like her even after a year." Natsu reached for her bed sheets and sniffed it. A single tear fell from his eyes as he clutched the fabric tightly. "Luce…I really, really miss you."**_

_**Happy cried silently as he watched his best friend cry.**_

_**And then-**_

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><p>"What's wrong Lu-chan?" Lucy's storytelling was interrupted by her female close friend with worry evident in her voice.<p>

"Eh?" Lucy looked at Ami in confusion.

"Why are you crying?" Ami frowned as she wiped away Lucy's tears.

"E-eh?" Lucy's eyes widened as her fingers touched her face to check whether she's really crying. "W-Why?"

Ami hugged her while patting her back. "Thank you for your story, Lu-chan. I was really saddened by what happened to Natsu… so I guess you were carried away by it. But it'll be okay, right?" Ami grinned at her best friend.

Lucy blinked a few times and tried to avoid the gaze of her friend. "I'm so weeeeird. Sorry, Ami-chan. I'll compensate later, okay? I'll excuse myself so that I could fix myself in the bathroom, haha! I'll be fine, don't worry!" Lucy grinned back and hurriedly walked out of the classroom.

'_Why the hell can't I stop crying?'_

She reached the bathroom and locked herself inside a cubicle. She tried to stop herself from crying but flashes of the scene from her story have been affecting her too much. "Happy…"

She pictured the winged blue feline snuggling on her chest whenever he greets her. She imagined how his big eyes produced large droplets of tears as he watched Natsu cry in Lucy's bed.

"Natsu…"

Natsu was…crying. He really missed Lucy. The strong and brave dragon slayer is now…at his weakest point. And Lucy did not know why she was affected by her own characters in her novel. By her own imagination.

"Ah…maybe I'm becoming crazy…" Lucy closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I don't even know anymore…"

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><p>After 15 minutes, Lucy returned to the classroom. Even though she cried a lot, he tried to hide it by applying foundation on her face to cover the evidence. She waved a hand at Ami who smiled at her.<p>

"Are you okay now, Lu-chan?" Ami asked with a hint of worry on her voice.

"Yup! Don't worry, that was nothing. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes I really get too engrossed by my stories that I kinda uhm…mixed my life with it haha… I even named one character the same as mine! So don't freak out the next time okay? Hey uhh are you weirded out with me?" Lucy laughed as she poked Ami on her cheeks.

"Oh Lucy, that's what I like about you!" She hugged her friend. "It's okay! We get too emotional sometimes when we read books, right? So no biggie!"

Lucy smiled as she pulled away from the hug. _'If not because of this girl…I wonder if I'm still sane? I'm glad that we're friends…'_

Suddenly, static noises were heard all over the campus. It seems that there's an announcement from the broadcasting room.

"_**Students of Yousei Gakuen, Please stay calm after this announcement. An intruder has entered the school. The administration is now calling the police to handle the situation. Please stay on your classrooms and wait for your teachers for further instructions."**_

"Hey guys, there's a weird looking man at the school grounds!" One of Lucy's classmates who sat by the window called the attention of the class. "I think he's the intruder!"

The classroom became rowdy because people wanted to see the appearance of the intruder. Since Lucy sits near the window (After Ami), she had to leave her seat to give way to her curious classmates. She didn't want to pry anyway. She's over and done with intruders due to personal experiences. Ami, on the other hand, was very curious on who the intruder was. Since she has access to her own window, she got a VIP pass.

"Where is he?"

"There! On the grounds!"

"He's kinda impossible to miss because of his weird clothing!"

"I know right! Is he a cosplayer?"

Ami saw the intruder and her eyes widened as he scanned his features. 'One-sleeved black dress shirt, white pants, sandals…scaly scarf…pink—' "No, it's salmon." She whispered.

"L-Lu-chan! " Ami tried to call the attention of Lucy who was currently bugged by Lester. Despite that, Lucy heard her friend call her name and quickly came into her direction. Lester came along. "What's wrong, Ami? Did you see him?"

Ami nodded vigorously and spoke, "I think the guy is awfully familiar!"

"Why?"Lucy's eyes were wide as saucers. "Oh dear Mavis, don't tell me someone's after you—"

"Who's Mavis? Anyway, NO! See for yourself!" Ami pulled Lucy's hand so that she could get near the window. "Oi! That's my spot, scoot over!"

Lucy sweatdropped at her bestfriend's behavior and finally, she got into the window.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked her friend.

"There!" Ami pointed out to the intruder.

Then a random classmate shouted, "Who chooses pink as their hair color!?"

"I HEARD YOU! IT'S SALMON DAMN IT AND I WAS BORN WITH IT!" Lucy's classmates were freaked out by the intruder's reply. How the hell could he possibly heard that? They were on the fourth floor!

Lucy's mouth dropped in shock as she finally caught sight of the 'intruder'.

"He looks like the Natsu from your story Lu-chan!"

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><p><strong>AN2: My country got hit by a typhoon pretty badly but we're recovering. Electricity's not stable so I haven't been able to continue writing this. I hope it'll be okay starting tomorrow so that I could post the next chapter asap. Thanks again for reading! :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**A confused and incoherent Lucy, coming up!**

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. I own Ami and Lester though.**

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><p>CHAPTER 3<p>

'_Honestly, why do people think that my hair is pink!? It's salmon! There's a big difference!' _The intruder grumpily cursed as he continued to filter the scents in the air. _'I know I smelled it here…'_

Once again, he looked up and there she was.

Her brown colored orbs became wide as saucers when their eyes met. _'Those eyes that were full of emotions and will see through your soul in a single gaze.'_ Her pink, plump mouth was slightly parted mainly due to shock. Her long blonde hair looked silky as ever that he remembered how much he wanted to run his hand through it over and over again and lull her to sleep. Her vanilla scent filled his nose and indulged with the nostalgic scent.

Yup, nothing's changed. _His_ Lucy Heartfilia is still the same as ever.

The intruder looked at her for the last time before he took a few steps back. After letting out a breath, he started running into the building. The students were startled and confused on what the intruder will do until Lucy's classmates gasped as they suddenly saw him climb into their window. _'How the hell did he do that!?' _The students backed away as they saw the intruder let himself into their classroom through the window_. 'The classroom's on the fucking fourth floor. How the fuck did that happen?'_ Every student thought of the same thing. But not all students moved from their spot. A blonde girl remained still on her position.

"Whew, this is kinda higher than Luce's apartment."

"Use the damn door, it's there for a reason!" Lucy Heartfilia stood one meter away from the intruder.

"Well, are you still not used to it?" The salmon-haired guy chuckled. _'Yup, never changes.'_

"No! How can I get used to something that I have never encountered in my whole life?" Lucy pointed a finger at Natsu.

"Ouch, that hurts." Natsu frowned.

"You're supposed to be in my damn novel so why are you here—" Lucy turned to Ami who's now keenly observing the two. It seems like Lucy was convinced that the person in front of her came out from her novel.

"A…haha Ami-chan, am I still not done with the storytelling session?" Ami just looked at her, also confused with what's going on but was suddenly alarmed that it was an intruder who's in front of her best friend.

"Lucy! Get away from him! He might be dangerous!" Ami tried to grab Lucy's arm until the intruder spoke.

"Luce." His dark onyx eyes were focused on her.

Lucy was confused with her feelings. She was supposed to be scared with this man but hearing him utter 'Luce' feels very nostalgic. And she did not expect what she'll be doing next.

"Natsu." Lucy spoke. She immediately put her hand on her mouth and did not know why she uttered that name. She did not know how or why she said it with utmost care.

"You're weird."

"I'M NOT!"

.

.

.

"Luce." She froze when she felt the sudden change in his voice. The first time he called her 'Luce', his voice was ordinary. Now…it has a hint of tenderness but was dominated by the feeling of longing. There's also some relief in his voice. Suddenly, she felt her right hand being touched by him. He continued, "It's gone." Now his face turned into a frown while rubbing his thumb at the back of her hand in circles.

Lucy blushed from the contact as she quickly withdrew her hand. "Y-You're a creep!"

"Get away from my dear Lucy!" Lester tried to punch Natsu on the face but was stopped by Natsu's free hand.

"Who are you?" Natsu glared at Lester. Lester cowered in fear but still tried to retort, "I-I'm L-Lucy's boyfriend!"

One vein popped from Natsu's head.

"I VIGOROUSLY DENY EVERYTHING!" Lucy denied with all of her power. "A-And you! What's wrong with my hand!?" After she woke up from coma, she felt that something felt wrong with her right hand. Naturally, she just shrugged it off but now, this person named Natsu was saying that something's gone in her hand. She thought that she just have to take her chances on knowing what it is.

Natsu's glare has intensified a hundred fold. Lester must've released buckets of sweat already for he's really drenched. He figured that he's just a waste of time and finally let go of his hand. Natsu noticed that there were now a lot of people in the room. The students from the other rooms filled the corridors of the room they're in. _'Ah crap, Levy said to not stand out too much!'_

"Your..." He whispered in reply as he returned his focus to Lucy who's now busy smacking Lester.

"What the hell were you doing, you idiot! You could've died!" Lucy reprimanded her friend and smacked him once more.

"But Lucy, he's hurting you!" Lester rubbed his now swollen head.

"No! He's very gentle actually. He'll never hurt me! You on the other hand… I don't know! Maybe you'll be turned to ashes!" Lucy gasped as she realized her words too late. She did not even know why she said that. She did not have any evidence that this person… Natsu was a good guy. But then based from her novel… he is good so maybe she's just being biased. _'But Lucy he's a character from your book but this guy who looks like Natsu is a real human! Get a grip!'_

'_Ah crap, she's confused with what's happening.'_ Natsu scratched his head as he saw Lucy pull her hair in extreme frustration.

'_**Natsu, Lu-chan might have gained another personality in that world because of Kyrios' magic. She might become someone she's not. Please knock some sense into her so that you could get back immediately.' **_ Natsu recalled Levy's words as he let out a deep sigh. '_So this was the thing that Levy meant… what a pain.'_

Ami, who's been behind Lucy after she attempted to get Lucy away from Natsu, took a step forward and tried to cover Lucy. "W-Who are you exactly? W-Why do you know Lu-chan?" The petite brunette's gaze was unfaltering. She always liked the Natsu in Lucy's story but seeing a person who looks like him and has a same name as him and knows Lucy is very suspicious. Basing from Lucy's reactions, she knew that this guy was not used as a reference for the novel. There seems to be something fishy about this thing.

Natsu stared at the girl for a minute and replied, "Who are you?"

"I asked first!"

"Uhhh…" Natsu scratched his head.

"What?" Ami tapped her feet as she waited for his answer.

Grinning at the brunette, Natsu answered. "Natsu, Fairy Tail mage."

Ami glanced at Lucy who's now looking at the floor. She did not know if Lucy really know this person— _'Ah, maybe he's really a reference person— WAIT WHAT MAGE?'_

"W-What are you talking about? A mage?" Lester stood up still rubbing his sore head from Lucy's smacking. "Ne, Lucy. This guy has some loose screws! Mages don't exist!" He laughed because he thought that Natsu's words were very ridiculous. "Or wait is he some kind of an entertainer?" After Lester's intervention, the people in the room began whispering about what happened. Then, they all looked at Natsu like he's a clown.

"Hey Heartfilia, I did not know you had a _**mage **_friend. Oooh so what does he do? Does he make things disappear? Or or or does he breathe _**fire**_? Which circus did he come from?" One of her classmates shouted with sarcasm. It was followed her classmate's laughter. But Natsu and Lucy glared at the guy who mocked mages.

"SHUT UP!" Ami shouted at her classmates. "You have no right to say that to a person you don't even know." Lucy was shocked by her best friend's actions. It's like… she believes in Natsu.

"Actually, he's right on the last thing he said."

The whole class was shocked as they saw Natsu's flaming hands. "I can't let a breath right now— I might kill you but yes, I breathe fire. I also eat them, you know. They're tasty."

After that, the students were silent until someone shrieked.

"HE'S A MONSTER!"

And in a few minutes, not only the classroom, but even the whole building became empty leaving only four people: Natsu, Lucy, Ami and surprisingly… Lester, who wasn't able to run because of fear and Lucy.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.

"Hey! I just showed them that I could actually do that!" Natsu pouted while he defended his actions.

"You scared them!"

"But they're making fun of you, Luce!" He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Now Lucy became speechless. She was not supposed to know this guy— well, he acts like the one in her novel but who knows what he'll do. _'And HE SUDDENLY BURSTS IN FLAMES WHO THE HELL DOES THAT!' _But… she felt his sincerity in defending her by proving that mages exist. His onyx eyes looked like they never lied. He probably felt that she felt really angry after her stupid classmate mocked mages. '_I mean, it's might not be highly possible that they exist BUT there's still a possibility of mages existing! Like right now! A mage is in front of me! So don't they ever mock them! They have their prides and hone their abilities to help people by doing jobs!'_

And then there was silence.

Lucy gulped and tried to speak. '_This whole thing is getting ridiculous. It's been minutes since Natsu came in and the police might get in and arrest him for breaking in! I probably should… talk to him.'_

"Natsu-_san._" Lucy added an honorific because she remembered that he's a stranger. She really tried so hard to separate her novel from reality. She took a deep breath and continued, "What is the reason that a mage like you… are here? And why do you know me?" '_There. I hope nothing would interfere this time. It's been asked a lot of times already!'_

Natsu's heart cringed when she heard her say his name in an unfamiliar way this time. But he took this opportunity to finally get the girl back. Before, he was confused on how he'll explain things to Lucy so he decided to answer her questions by a single name.

A name that made Lucy's eyes tear up to the brim as she fell on her knees while clutching her right hand using her left.

.

.

.

"_**Nashi."**_

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><p><strong>AN: So yeah, another chapter. I just started writing a new chapter today so I'm sorry if this was delayed. I do not have a uniform posting schedule but I'll try to keep up. Thank you for reading. It makes me happy ^u^<strong>

**By the way, I'll just warn you. Natsu and Lucy might be a bit OOC in this fic. They're older in this fic and yeah circumstances happened so yeah lol**


	4. Chapter 4

**(c)Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.**

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><p>CHAPTER 4<p>

**Year X973**

"Luuusshiiiiiiiii~" Happy flew at the blonde haired mage who just passed through the guild doors. Lucy smiled as she patted the blue feline who's now making himself comfortable in Lucy's chest. "What's wrong, Happy?" The girl smiled.

"Let's go on a mission! I asked Natsu and he said that it's fine!" Happy flew from Lucy to face her and cheered.

"Hmmm…" Lucy was deep in thought when Mira talked. "I suppose it's been a while, Lucy. Why don't you go on a mission?" the barmaid smiled sweetly at the celestial mage.

Not that Lucy never wanted to go… In fact, she's running out of jewels. She also knows that Happy missed having missions with the complete Team Natsu since Lucy had a break. "But how about—"

"Luce!" Lucy Heartfilia's thoughts were interrupted as her _best friend_ called her.

"Oh, Natsu! It's about the mission…" Lucy's face was filled with worry but Natsu proudly smiled at her.

"It's fine! Lisanna told me that she's going to take care of Nashi! So… we could go on a mission together as a team again!" Natsu grinned at Lucy. He saw Lucy let out a sigh of relief as she smiled at the salmon-haired dragon slayer.

"I suppose we could go. But only a short one, okay? Nashi's gonna miss us."

"Alright!" Natsu nodded as he informed Erza and Gray about the mission.

* * *

><p>Who was this Nashi, anyway?<p>

Nashi is a one-year old baby girl who was born in the year X972. She has salmon-colored hair (which she got from her father) and big brown orbs (which greatly resembled her mother's). Her parents? None other than the resident celestial mage and the fire dragon slayer of Fairy Tail.

How in Earthland did that happen?

Well, one day they just came into the guild hand-in-hand and announced that Lucy's pregnant. The whole guild froze after Natsu told them about that. Heck they didn't even know that the two were actually dating under their noses.

**Year X971 (A few months after the Tartaros incident)**

"_HEY GUYS! I'M GONNA BE A DADDY!" Natsu cheered as he entered the guild pulling a scarlet-faced Lucy with him. Loud clanks were heard due to mugs of booze being dropped (in addition to the fallen jaws of the guild members) and fights were halted after the sudden announcement. After a few minutes of silence, Mirajane's squeals were heard before she passed out. Elfman caught her before she hit the floor._

"_YOU WERE ACTUALLY TOGETHER!?" The whole guild shouted in unison while Master cried tears of joy due to having another family member in a few months. They were shocked because they thought that Natsu's denseness would make the two of them best friends forever._

"_Oh my God the dense idiot got laid before me!" Gray shouted in horror while Juvia was in the background trying to console her 'Gray-sama'._

"_Isn't it obvious that we were together since the beginning?" Everyone smacked their heads because… yup, it's the flame headed idiot who's involved. The dense idiot who has a potato has a head._

"_Idiot, it's not something that's decided from the very start! You didn't even say a single word to me until a few months ago!" Lucy smacked Natsu in the head and the guild erupted in laughter._

_After rubbing his head, Natsu grinned at Lucy and patted her head. "Well, it doesn't really matter anymore now that we'll have another family member coming up!" He lifted her and swung her around before placing a kiss on her forehead._

"_Gihee, who knew that the idiot had it in him?" Gajeel smirked while watching the two of them. Levy, who was sitting beside him, had tears in her eyes while muttering something like being the godmother or something around those lines. _

"_Congratulations, Lucy-san and Natsu-san!" Wendy smiled at the couple while Charle (who's now holding a fish adorned with ribbons) was being bugged by an energetic Happy. _

"_OI GUYS PAY UP! I told ya he's gonna get laid before most of you!" Cana wiped her mouth after chugging down a whole barrel of booze. Cries and grunts were heard around Cana while jewels were piled up on her table._

'_They actually had bets!?' Lucy sweatdropped because they thought Natsu couldn't do it. Well… think again. 'He's actually… pretty good.' Lucy's cheeks were stained with pink at her realization._

_Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca were reminiscing about the time they first learned about Asuka. They are very much sure that Natsu and Lucy feel very happy right now. They gained someone who's directly related to them. Just like what they felt when Asuka came, they're sure that it'll be very heartwarming and fulfilling. While cheering on the side, Asuka was happy that she'll be a big sister in a few months._

_Back in the bar, Lisanna was tending to her unconscious older sister. "Well, those two are now definitely happy because…they gained another important treasure. Their __**own **__bundle of joy." Lisanna smiled as she lovingly gazed at her two friends. Don't get her wrong, she looked at Natsu only as a brother; nothing more, nothing less. And ever since she got stuck in Edolas, she saw how their Edo versions also loved each other despite their weird relationship. 'Meanwhile, Mira-nee should really get a grip.' She sweatdropped._

"_THIS CALLS FOR A PARTY!" Master Makarov announced as he raised his mug of beer. The whole guild followed suit and continued their merry making, dancing and of course brawls. Fairy Tail will not be the same without the usual fights. Gray threw a chair at Natsu for being so mushy with Lucy. Natsu smiled at Lucy, put her at a safe place near Mira and Lisanna, then threw another chair at Gray who dodges it. The chair hit Erza's cake instead so the two were running around the guild while avoiding her swords. Eventually, everyone in the guild got involved and Master just cried like a child because of the expenses of the repairs due to the fight. On his side, Laki sighed and calculated the number of new chairs and tables that should be made tomorrow morning. But in the end, everyone was laughing like crazy and was at peace with each other's company. They really gave a warm welcome for Natsu and Lucy's child._

_After 6 months, Lucy got into labor and delivered Nashi._

"_N-Natsu!" Lucy panted as she tried to smile at her boyfriend who's now holding their little bundle of joy. She was at Porlyusica's clinic and the whole guild swarmed around the room much to Edo-Grandine's annoyance._

"_Luce, look at her! She's so cuuuuuuute!" Natsu grinned as he put their baby beside Lucy. As she held the baby in her arms, Natsu admired the sight of the new mother and child. He could really get used to this situation. He created a family. His __**own**__ family. And he'll never let them go._

"_Ne, Natsu. Can I name your baby?" Happy flew near the couple and landed near the baby girl. The feline touched the baby's hand with his fur and smiled. "I want her to be Nashi!"_

"_Why Nashi?"_

"_It's a combination of your names! 'Na' from Natsu and 'shi' from Lushi!" Happy explained._

_Small 'o''s were formed from Natsu and Lucy's mouth as they looked at each other. They smiled and agreed that their little girl will be named as Nashi._

"_Nashi!"_

_Nashi gripped Happy' paw. "N-Natsu! I think she likes it!" Natsu grinned while Lucy patted Happy's head. _

"_Of course she did! Her big brother gave her a name so she'd definitely like it!"_

* * *

><p>After explaining a few things to Lisanna on how to take care of their little Nashi, Natsu and Lucy each kissed their child's forehead and headed on their mission as Team Natsu.<p>

Well, actually they left after Erza played with Nashi. She loved being with that child.

Anyway, they randomly grabbed some easy-looking mission (just catching a dark mage named Kyrios who's been messing around in a town called Rosencrow) which is surprisingly high-paying, too! (Can you imagine… 950,000 jewels for this simple mission?) Natsu and Lucy hoped to finish the job within three days since Rosencrow is just three hours away from Magnolia.

Oh well, of course, they had to ride a _**train**_.

To calm him down, Lucy let Natsu fall asleep on her lap. They discovered that Natsu feels better when he's lying on her lap while she caresses his salmon-colored locks. Well, at least no one will block the windows now.

The team arrived at Rosencrow. They were told that Kyrios possesses Portal magic that could send people to different dimensions at will. He was using this power to make the town folks disappear. But here's the catch, the people must work under him to get the missing people back! After talking to some folks (who were very scared because of the dark mage), they headed to the forest near the town river so that they could raid the dark mage's hideout and capture him.

It was a heated battle. Kyrios had no underlings. He was working alone but the team had difficulty in defeating him because he was using the town folks as a shield. But Erza had a different plan in mind. He requipped into her Heaven Wheel's armor and summoned around a hundred swords. Each sword lunged at each town folk and hit them at their napes with the hilt. Now having unconscious people that he couldn't manipulate anymore, Kyrios had to battle Team Natsu head on. Using Scorpio's sand, Lucy tried to obscure Kyrios' vision so that he won't be able to use his magic accurately. That was when Gray took the opportunity to freeze his limbs to prevent him from casting any magic. Natsu lunged forward and knocked Kyrios out. And it was Team Natsu's victory.

"Sweet!" Natsu pumped his fists in the air. He turned to Lucy and they high fived.

"Now all that's left is to hand him to the Council. Well, they'll be here in a little while so we'll have to wait." Erza stated as she dragged Kyrios in a nearby tree to tie him up. After the deed is done she reunited with the team who's now resting on the ground.

"Maaaan, I can't wait to go home and see Nashi!" Natsu claimed as he laid on his back in a nearby rock.

"You've really become a doting father, you flame brain." Gray smirked.

"At least he's wearing clothes." Lucy pointed at Gray.

"Ah crap not again!" Gray left frantically searching for his missing clothes. Erza arrived just in time to accompany Natsu and Lucy.

"That little Nashi really changed our lives…" Erza was the one to speak. She was really attached to the little one. Well, they had Asuka at the guild but she's already six when they returned home from the Tenrou incident. Team Natsu lost their parents so Nashi will definitely be brought up full of love and care by the guild and of course by their parents.

Lucy smiled at Erza's statement. "I agree. It was hard at first because I did not know what to do— I'm still a teenager but… knowing that I have Natsu and the guild by my side…" Lucy looked at Natsu as he gripped her hand, "I feel like I can do anything!" She grinned at her friends. Gray finally returned thankfully with clothes on and smiled.

"I did not have any parents and Igneel was the only one I had so I was happy when I knew that Nashi's coming to us. I wanted to be the best father for her!" Natsu smiled at his girlfriend.

"They liiiiiiiiiiiike each other~" Happy jumped into the conversation and the whole group laughed.

But they did not expect what happened after.

Shadows started to creep into Lucy's limbs and were trying to engulf her completely. Natsu realized too late and wasn't able to pull Lucy out on time. He turned to the man tied into the tree and ran towards the culprit.

"YOU BASTARD!" He punched Kyrios. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE LUCY!?" Natsu grabbed Kyrios collar and lifted him up. The guy just smirked and replied.

"T-That was m-my last spell. I-it's the m-most powerful and d-don't look for that b-blondie anymore. She'll be fucked up, anyway." At the last sentence, Natsu grabbed Kyrios' head and smashed it against the tree. Erza came and stopped Natsu.

"Natsu, leave this to me." Erza tapped Natsu's shoulder.

"No. Lucy—" Erza just gripped Natsu's shoulder harder telling him to stop. Natsu released the man as Erza took his place. Erza requipped into her Purgatory Armor and stabbed a few swords around the dark mage but she noticed that Kyrios was not moving anymore. _'LAST spell, was it?'_

Natsu's anger was replaced by shock and sadness as he recalled Lucy's last words before she disappeared.

'_Please take care of Nashi for me.'_

He roared in grief as his tears fell to the ground.

She still smiled at the very end.

* * *

><p><strong>Year 2014<strong>

And now, Natsu found her at last.

Now on her knees, Lucy was crying uncontrollably because of a single name. She couldn't believe that she forgot about her! Nashi wasn't even on her novel!

Then he heard her mutter something while she was sobbing.

"So it was not a stupid dream after all…" Natsu smiled as he kneeled in front of the blonde and hugged her tightly, Ami and Lester completely forgotten.

After a year of longing, it seems that he now gained _**his**_ Lucy back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh dear I'm having a writer's block. I'm currently typing chapter 8 but... - I hope it comes to me soon. Sorry for the irregular updates. Sometimes the urge to draw something wins :)) Thank you for reading!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**To Fro 4 president (Guest review):** Thank you for reading! Actually, I drew a 5 year old version and it's posted in my tumblr! If you have time then please check it out :D (My tumblr is swordbreaker :D) Also about the typhoon, we're okay now! Save from some uprooted trees around the area. We were not harmed and my room just got wet from leaks but we're fine. Thanks for asking!

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. I own Ami and Lester though.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 5<strong>

Lucy felt strong, muscular arms wrap around her body. Her head was buried into the scaly (but surprisingly soft) white scarf that the lad had in the process. The lad did not mind that her tears were seeping through his beloved scarf. What's more important is that the blonde now _finally _realized that everything really wasn't a dream or some sort of stupid idea for a novel.

Natsu is _**real**_.

_**Her**_ Natsu came for _her._

Lucy pulled away from the embrace and wiped her tears leaving an unwilling Natsu. Looking at him once again, with face filled with worry, she asked about their daughter's whereabouts.

"Natsu, where is Nashi?" She reached his hand and gently squeezed it. As a mother, she really wanted to see her daughter's face right away. It's a natural instinct that mothers have.

Natsu smiled as he cupped Lucy's face. He realized that everything just crashed into Lucy's mind at once and the first thing that she'll worry about is her daughter's wellbeing. He just hoped that Lucy won't blame herself for leaving Nashi and try to handle this all alone. Reassuring her with a smile, he spoke. "Don't worry. She's with our friends back at home. And she's waiting for _you_."

She touched his hand on her cheek using her free hand and sighed in relief. "Thank God."

After a full minute of silence, the question that has been avoided several times finally popped out. "How did you get in here?" Lucy wondered how everyone worked together to save her sorry little ass once again. Not that she's ungrateful for it but maaaan, she just have the best family ever. They might not be of the same blood, but the strength of their bonds surpasses that of a blood relative. But she _really _wanted to smack herself for thinking that her family in Fairy Tail was fiction! What the hell was she thinking at all?! Leaving her thoughts to focus back on her question, she bit her lip as she listened to Natsu's story.

Natsu took a breath before speaking. "Levy really worked hard to get you back. She did not stop searching for something that could bring you back. It took her months before she finally got hold of a book which contains the spell that the _**bastard**_ cast on you. Being an expert in scripts and spells, she was able to find a way to reverse it. But first, they used the same spell to bring me here with you. It was difficult to get the place you're in but somehow, Levy figured it out with Freed's help." Natsu explained as he patted Lucy's head. "She did not give up."

Lucy was teary-eyed once again. In her 'dreams', she saw Levy being stressed. She was locking herself up to focus on finding a way to save her. Gajeel and Pantherlily were always there just in case she needs help (which she refuses every time but the two continually ignores her protests so she gave up on driving them away). Sometimes, Freed drops by and gives Levy some information on what he knew.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Fairy Tail's library has been claimed by Levy McGarden. <strong>_

_**Ever since her best friend disappeared, she has wept for days. Her eyes became dull and the redness of her face has been evident due to excessive crying. But thanks to a certain metal-eating freak, she snapped out of her trance and ran to the library. Nobody knew exactly what Gajeel did to finally make Levy leave her apartment at Fairy Hills but the whole guild was more than sure that it included some harsh but meaningful words. Maybe that's the reason why Levy's determination has lit up. **_

_**She started reading on books about Portal magic and other stuff regarding dimensional magic. It included magic that could distort space and time. She also recalled the Anima project from Edolas. But that would be useless since they did not know where Lucy was and Anima was primarily used in sucking out magical power. If the place that Lucy got stuck in is also a magical world, who knows what will happen. Anima isn't also really reliable. It lacks accuracy and efficiency. On the other hand, certain books have some information about Kyrios' magic. They say that Portal mages have an ability to concentrate ethernano at a single point to create instability in space. This distortion in space will serve as a gateway to another world. **_

"_**So this is the mechanism of action of portal magic… so maybe if we were able to tweak something, we could bring Lu-chan home. But… I really don't know how." Levy pulled her hair in frustration but after a few minutes, she resumed on her mission. She did not even notice that Gajeel and Pantherlily was leaning near the window and watching her.**_

"_**That squirt really…" Gajeel grunted as he shifted his gaze from Levy to the window.**_

"_**Someone here is really worried. Hm." Pantherlily teased the iron dragon slayer.**_

"_**Gihee."**_

_**Weeks have passed by. Natsu just came from a mission and learned that Levy still hasn't given up on finding Lucy. After he got his daughter back from Mirajane, who took care of Nashi while Natsu's gone, he decided to visit the solid script mage.**_

"_**So how's it going?" Natsu asked as he pulled a chair out of somewhere and sat beside Levy. Levy stopped for a moment frowned. She realized that Nashi was there so she shifted her frown into a gentle smile. Natsu passed Nashi to Levy so that she could carry her in her arms.**_

"_**Hello Nashi!" Levy smiled as she poked the salmon-haired child's cheeks. The child stared at her with her big brown orbs then smiled. "She's really the cuteeeesssttttt!" Levy's eyes sparkled as she squealed at the infant's action. But she remembered Natsu's question so she returned her focus to him.**_

"_**No luck. Aside from finding out that Portal magic is kinda similar to Celestial magic…. in a way." She continued to play with Nashi's little hands which tried to hold Levy's fingers.**_

"_**How so?"**_

"_**You know how Lu-chan summons her spirits right? She uses a key to connect to the Spirit realm and summon a celestial spirit. So I thought that Portal magic users are more advanced because they do not need something to connect two worlds and actually transfer something in between." **_

"_**So it's like Lucy was summoned to the other world?" **_

"_**Well… not exactly. The nature of their magic is still different. I just noticed that the manner of transfer in between worlds is kinda similar…" Levy noticed the gloom that surrounded the salmon-haired boy. "I'm sorry, Natsu… but believe me, I will find a way!" Levy looked at Nashi one last time and returned her to her father. "I will not let Nashi grow up without a mother!"**_

_**Natsu cradled Nashi as he smiled at the conviction of his lover's bestfriend. "I really owe you a lot, Levy."**_

"_**Of course, a wedding without a bride is pointless." Levy teased Natsu in an attempt to lighten up the mood.**_

_**Natsu just replied with a goofy grin while his cheeks were painted with a pink hue. **_

_**Levy smiled as returned to her business while the father and daughter returned to their home.**_

* * *

><p>"Levy-chan…" She fighted her sobs in order to bring herself to smile. "T-then how do we get home?"<p>

"According to Levy, if I ever meet you, I should expect that your memories would be messed up. And yup, she's right." Lucy smacked him in the head but continued, "But I think Nashi will be so glad that she was the one who fixed your memories." Natsu grinned. "Anyway, since your memories are okay now, you should use your keys to bring us back home. Uhhh that maid girl could dig holes right? Levy said that she is also capable of creating dimensional holes so… hmm what was it again?" He scratched his head as he tried to remember the details.

"Virgo would be able to create a hole that would connect this world to Earthland, right?" Lucy continued as she chuckled at Natsu's current predicament of not remembering every detail. "And as I have witnessed a while ago, magic is not limited in this world." She remembered how Natsu produced his flames easily just a few minutes ago.

"Yup! Much easier than getting back from Edolas, don't you think?"

"But the thing is, I don't have my keys."

"Good! Now summon the maid girl so that we cou—WHAT!?" Natsu knew that Lucy would _**never**_, ever lose her keys. But then her memories were all jumbled up so…

"I-I… lost them. I don't remember having them when I woke up in this world. And I promised that I would never lose them, but now…" Lucy covered her face with her hands in shame and regret. If only she was stronger, none of this would happen. Nashi and her keys… "What kind of irresponsible prick am I? And I call myself a Celestial mage?" She sobbed once again.

"Lucy…" Natsu looked at her with worry.

"Now how are we supposed to get back to Nashi!?" Lucy slumped on the floor and cried. "I'm sorry…"

After a whole minute of hearing Lucy's cries, Natsu pulled Lucy's arm to make her stand up. "We'll find your keys."

"E-Eh?"

"Did you forget? We dragon slayers have a good nose. How did you think I found you?" Lucy's eyes widened at Natsu's statement. "We'll find your keys and we'll be going home."

"Natsu…"

"Okay?" Natsu gave her his signature toothy grin as he gripped Lucy's hand. Lucy nodded as she smiled at her savior. _'He really is a simple-minded person… but then his way of thinking is very reassuring."_

"Well, we should not really keep Nashi waiting!" He chuckled as she pulled her hand.

Lucy smiled but stopped when she remembered something. Natsu was still pulling her hand to get away and find her keys but…"N-Natsu…where are we going?" This time, Natsu's right foot was stepping on the window sill.

"Uhh, to your keys?"

"And how do you suppose we start finding those?" Lucy shut her eyes as she waited for an answer.

"Isn't it obvious, Luce? We're gonna jump from the window!" Natsu told the blonde as if it was a natural thing to do. "And I thought you were the smart one in this relationship."

"Like hell I'm jumping! I'm not as tough as you!"

"Ehhhh, but I'm gonna hold you so it'll be fine!" Lucy blushed at his cheery antics but continued to protest.

"Use the damn door just this once!"

"But this is faster…"Natsu whined as he pulled Lucy's hand once more.

"W-Wait—!" Lucy was interrupted by Natsu's mouth… literally. His lips were pressed onto hers to shut her up. After the kiss, Lucy was as red as a tomato and silent as the night. She froze at her spot and Natsu took this opportunity to scoop her in his arms and launched himself through the window.

"NATSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Lucy shrieked in horror as they fell to the ground.

Ami and Lester ran to the window and looked if the pair was okay. Jumping from the fourth floor isn't a joke, okay!? Who in the right mind would do that—

But when Ami and Lester saw Natsu land swiftly (while laughing) with Lucy in his arms (who smacked Natsu eventually), they finally let out the breath that they were holding in for a very long time and slumped against the wall.

"Why am I not even surprised right now?" Lester spoke as he looked up.

"Same sentiments."

"Will Lucy-chan come back?" Lester sighed at he turned to the brunette.

"I... was wondering the same thing." With a frown plastered to her face, she closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

The police arrived after a few minutes. They have started interrogating the class but dismissed them immediately because there is NO way that someone who produces flames on the spot from scratch exists. Mages? Who in the right mind would believe that trick? Since the intruder did not harm any student and not a single property was damaged (which is a miracle since the intruder was Natsu, the most destructive mage in Fairy Tail), the police just wrote a report about what happened and left immediately.

Well, maybe two people would believe of the possible existence of mages. Oh maybe the whole class would too.

Probably.

* * *

><p>"NATSU YOU DAMNED IDIOT!" Lucy smacked Natsu who was still laughing because it looked like he was very amused with Lucy's expression when they jumped from the fourth floor.<p>

"Aww Luce, don't be so mad. I was just too happy that I finally got a kiss from you." Natsu teased the blonde-haired mage.

Lucy blushed and poked Natsu's chest. "You'll be the end of me, Mister Dragneel."

"Oh really, Miss Heartfilia?" He smirked as he leaned closer to the scarlet-faced blonde. He got closer and closer until—

Smack!

Lucy smacked Natsu's forehead in order to stop him from actually kissing her. Don't get her wrong, she _**wanted**_ that kiss—_c'mon it has been a year since they last kissed!_— but there is something else that must be attended immediately. Being a woman of logic, she must set her priorities right. "Y-You idiot!" '_Damn that stutter!'_

"What d'ya do that for, Luceeee?" Natsu pouted as he rubbed his throbbing forehead.

"B-Because!" Lucy pouted trying to avert her eyes from the fire dragon slayer.

"You weirdo." He kissed her cheek instead and smiled. "C'mon, let's find your keys."

"Uhn." Lucy nodded with cheeks still tinted with pink. Natsu then swept her off her feet and carried her again while they search for her keys.

"Mou, Natsu! I can waaaalk!" Unfortunately, Lucy's cries (which Natsu thought of as cute and adorable) were ignored.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hiiiiii! Thanks for reading~ so another chapter finally =u=<strong>

**Oh yeah, here's the timeline of events in this fanfic!**

**X791 - Grand Magic Games/ Tartaros incident/ Nashi was conceived**

**X792 - Nashi was born**

**X793 - Team Natsu goes on a mission to capture the dark mage, Kyrios/ Lucy disappears**

**X794 (Year 2014 on Earth) - Lucy wakes up/ Natsu finds Lucy in school**

**In X794, Nashi is 2 years old.**

**Even I become confused whenever I think of the timeline haha but yeah here.**

**Until next chapter! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Oh god it's been a month since I last updated. And I haven't written a new chapter yet. I have written the next few chapters (I have like... two more in stock) but it's been a while since I wrote a new one. I said before that I'll after only if I finished a new chapter in advance but... unfortunately I haven't been able to write a new one. I've been sick so maybe the medications' getting my mind out of the zone. Good thing I already have an outline so I know what I have to write when my muse gets back haha.**

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 06<strong>

"You know, I won't be freaking out again because I missed you so damn much but… do you realize that your nose led us back to my place?" Lucy giggled as she put her hands on her waist. "But really, please don't scare me like that again. You climbed all the way to the seventh floor! I almost got a heart attack from that. At least give me a warning next time." Lucy poked Natsu's cheeks while he laughed.

"Sorry Luce, habit." He ruffled Lucy's hair and continued, "It's kinda weird that my nose led me to your place. Why are you not still able to find your keys if they're already here?"

"Well, my memories before you came were messed up so…" Her hand touched her chin due to confusion. "I doubt that your sense of smell failed you because well… you found me." Lucy smiled while her cheeks were flushed as she realized that finding her was like finding a needle from a haystack. What a reliable partner.

"Of course, my nose is the greatest!" Natsu's crossed his arms along his chest while he held his head up high.

"Yeah yeah." Lucy tapped his nose lightly and chuckled. "Also, it's weird that Loki still hasn't passed the gate on his own to bring the keys back. He did that when Yukino and I fought with the Garou Knights."

"You have a point." _'But_ _I'm kinda happy that the lion bastard was not able to take advances of __**my**__ Luce." _His face became dark as he let out a creepy laugh. Lucy shivered then shook her head slowly as she realized what the dragon slayer was thinking. After all, it's not the first time that she encountered the jealous side of Natsu.

"Oi Natsu, I know what you're thinking. And you look very creepy right now." She laughed as she playfully hit his arm.

"Geez, Luce. Anyway, maybe we should start looking for your keys. Don't get mad if I ever burn something in here." Natsu headed to her bedroom closet where he strongly smelled the scent of the keys. '_Wow, the arrangement of the room's similar to her apartment at Strawberry Street.'_

"You better not!" Lucy shot back at him. "I'll help you."

* * *

><p>After minutes of rummaging the closet, they slumped into the floor empty handed.<p>

"It's weird, why were your keys not in there? I was sure…" Natsu frowned as he turned to Lucy. "Sorry, Luce."

"It's okay, Natsu. The most plausible explanation for that is… the scent of the keys got mixed up to one of the things here in the closet." Lucy said as she eyed a certain piece of clothing. "And I know what that thing is."

Natsu eyed her as she picked up the blue dress that was tossed out a while ago. "I think this was my clothing when I arrived here, don't you think?"

He suddenly remembered the time when the shadows crept at Lucy's beautiful frame as she showed her the whole dress. "Yup, that's it."

"Of course. My keys were hanging from my belt which is now missing from this dress. Ugh what now?" Lucy's tears were beginning to form as she dropped the baby blue dress and let her hands fall to her sides. "How do we get home now? To Nashi?"

Natsu's showed a pained expression while he bit his lip. After a few seconds, he knelt in front of Lucy and hugged her tight. "It'll be okay, Lucy. Don't cry. I'll- no, we'll find a way. I promise." He stroked her hair gently. "I promise that we'll go home to Nashi."

"Mhhmm." Lucy nodded as she leaned at his chest. "I'll be counting on you, _**my**_dragon prince."

"That's so lame, Luce."

"S-Shut up! Don't ruin the moment!"

* * *

><p>The two individuals hesitantly broke away from the hug when they heard the sound of the doorbell. At least it sounded like a door bell to Lucy but to Natsu it's like a very annoying… something. He just considered it as a very stupid sound.<p>

"What was that ugly sound, Luce? It hurts my ears." The boy who has a super sensitive hearing complained about the buzzing sound of the doorbell. "It's even worse than the zapping sound of Laxus' lightning."

"Silly, it's a doorbell. It's a device that lets people know if there's a guest." Lucy wiped her tears as she stood up. "Oh Natsu, can you please hide… somewhere? Under the bed will do. Can you?" She smiled sweetly to the salmon-haired boy.

"But why?"

"Remember Levy's warning? You should not be seen. So... please?" Lucy pleaded with the most killer eyes of them all… the puppy eyes Luce version.

"A-Alright! Geez, those eyes of yours are very manipulative." Natsu groaned as he began to crawl under the bed while Lucy reached for the door. Before he's completely under the bed, Lucy sent a flying kiss to the boy as a sign of gratitude. _'Ah, that woman. Really.'_

Lucy peeped through the keyhole and saw her mother at the other side of the door. _'Oh my God, it's my 'mother'!'_ She gulped as she twisted the knob (but not before checking whether Natsu's completely hidden) and finally opened the door.

"Good afternoon, Mama." Lucy kissed Layla's cheek and motioned her to come in. "Come inside."

"Thank you, Lucy." Layla smiled sweetly as she picked up the large paper bag at her side.

They sat down at the sofa (_**completely**_ avoiding the bed becauseNatsu was there) after Lucy brought some tea and snacks.

"So Mama, what brings you here?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, I'm just visiting my beautiful daughter. It isn't forbidden, right?" Layla touched Lucy's cheeks as she blushed.

"T-Thank you." And then Lucy got an idea. She could ask her mother about the keys! Maybe she saw it and just kept it around somewhere, "A-Ah mother, I have a question if it's not too much to ask."

Layla looked at her daughter, intrigued by the coming question, "Of course, you may ask."

"I-It's about uhm, the time when you found me again at the mansion?" Lucy was beginning to fidget on her seat especially when she noticed the discomfort on her mother's face. "Uhm… how did I look like back then?" _'Wow Lucy, such a wonderful question. Baka!'_

"Lucy dear, is something wrong?" Layla had a worried look painted on her face. "This is the first time that you've asked something about the incident a year ago."

'_Lucy, after this, please hit yourself with a baseball bat.' _She mentally noted before she continued, "A-Ah, I just had the… courage. And… I was just curious. Sorry if it was too… sudden." She shifted in her seat due to discomfort. Oh the other hand, her mother picked up the cup of tea, sipped a little and put it back into the table again. She let out a breath and finally spoke.

"It was a very devastating sight. Your clothes were tattered and wounds were all over your body. As for your appearance, I would say that you were wearing very strange clothes. Also, you had a whip attached near your left hip and a set of key-like accessories inside a pouch on the right. Jude and I were very shocked at your appearance that day." Layla frowned then put her right hand on Lucy's shoulder. "But it doesn't matter anymore, my child. You are now safe and that's all what matters to me." Layla pulled Lucy closer and enveloped her into an embrace.

"Mama…" No one can feel how much she longed for her mother's embrace. Yes, she's been with her 'mother' ever since she got stuck in Earth but in reality, her **_real_** mother is dead. Layla Heartfilia of Earthland is dead. So as painful as it gets, she must go back to Earthland and leave her 'mother' here. She's also a mother so she understands that her daughter's waiting for her to come home. The guild is also waiting for her to come home. Also, Natsu and Levy spent a lot of time and effort just to find a way to return so she should get her keys to finally get back home.

"Hmm, Mama? Where are those keys? I just remembered that it was important to me. My friends gave it to me as a souvenir." Lucy lied as she tried to squeeze out more information on the keys whereabouts.

"Oh is that so? Good thing we kept it. We put it in the treasury back at the mansion." Lucy cringed at the mention of the forbidden word. _'Mansion? Really?'_

"I-I see. Thank you, mother." She hugged Layla once again.

"Your father locked it away in the treasury because it might stir some unwanted memories whenever you make contact with it."

Lucy was shocked that her father was the one who thought of locking her keys away for her own safety. _'I guess my father here is as stubborn as my real father.'_ Lucy smiled.

They broke away from the hug when Layla started to talk again. "Actually Lucy, I am here to inform you about something." Her eyes were pained as she continued to speak, "You father has sent me to inform you that there will be a ball in the mansion in two days. I have a dress here with me so you don't have to worry about buying a new one." Layla reached for the paper bag and gave it to Lucy who was staring at her in shock. "I'm sorry, Lucy…"

'_So much for giving him some points because of what he did with the keys.' _Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why did my idiot father remember me all of a sudden after all this time?" Lucy almost growled at the mention of her father. "I have a guess. An arranged marriage proposal? He's gonna release me in a den of lions to be munched on?" Lucy snorted as she looked away from her mother. '_And I already have Natsu and Nashi!- but well they don't know about that one.'_

"You don't have to come. It's your choice. I just delivered the message." Layla smiled. "You have gained your hard-earned independence so don't let it go. I'm sorry I had to disrupt your current lifestyle. You don't have to do things that you don't like." She grabbed Lucy's hands and trapped it into her own. "You are a free woman, Lucy."

Lucy took in a deep breath and hugged her mother. "Thank you, mother. I love you so much." _'Thank you for everything.'_

"I love you, too. And I regret that I must go early. I have to prepare for the ball." Layla broke away from the hug and stood up. Lucy accompanied her mother at the door and kissed her cheek before her mother left. After closing the door, she did not move. After a few seconds, she felt warm arms wrap around her body from the behind. His cheeks came in contact with hers as he whispered.

"You can cry now, Lucy. It's alright." He tightened his hold when he felt her shiver. And when she sobbed, her turned her around and held her cheeks, trying to wipe away the tears. "Shhh, just let it out." He said before enveloping her into a tight embrace.

"I'm gonna miss Mama... I know she's not my real mother but-"

"I know Lucy. You don't have to say anything."

"But-"

"Shhh. Just let it all out. I'll be here for you." Natsu began to stroke Lucy's head. He let his fingers run through her loose blonde locks hoping that it would provide comfort to his beloved. "I'm sorry that you guys have to part but I'm sure she'll understand in the future."

Lucy gripped Natsu's scarf harder as her tears ran down her rosy cheeks.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to the ball." Lucy suddenly spoke as she took the dishes away from the table. They just had finished eating dinner. Fortunately, her fridge was loaded so she did not need to go outside to buy food. Since Natsu eats like a whale, she had to prepare a feast's worth of food. And in a few moments, her fridge became an empty icy cave.<p>

Natsu was already sitting on the edge of her bed when he heard Lucy. Greeted with silence, Lucy sat beside him and continued, "Now that we know where the keys are, we have to get it as soon as possible. Since my father locked it away, it means that it'll be a tough ride. But I have a plan."

"Of course, definitely the brains of the team." Natsu smirked. "Fire away."

Lucy scoffed, "The ball is in two days. You heard that my keys were being kept in the Heartfilia Mansion's treasury, right? Well based from what I've seen when I lived there, it's normally locked. Of course, there are _**treasures**_ in them so it's obvious to keep maximum security at all times. So, when I attend the ball and entertain the guests, you sneak around and find the treasury using your nose. Can you do that?" Natsu nodded.

"Help me reunite with my precious friends, alright?" She smiled as she looked at Natsu's eyes. Natsu stared back at her with loving eyes and smiled.

"Since it's locked away, you're free to break the case or whatever. Maybe the reason why Loke can't pass through his gate was because of the damn case. Just… get the keys, okay?" Lucy added.

"Trust me on that one." Natsu pulled Lucy into a side hug. "But Lucy, are you really sure—"

"Mhmm." Lucy leaned on him until she caught interest on the paper bag that her mother left her. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She stood up and reached for the bag. "Natsu, I'll just try this on." She grabbed the dress and walked towards the bathroom. "Tell me if how it looks, okay?" Before Natsu could reply, Lucy already disappeared to the bathroom.

After some time, Natsu swore that he could've fallen asleep if not for Lucy's voice. His drowsy eyes snapped opened as he heard Lucy calling for help. He rushed into the bathroom without second thoughts and found the celestial mage struggling… to close the zipper on the back of her dress.

"Natsuuuu! Uhm… help?" Lucy blushed as she looked at Natsu who was also blushing because of her predicament. His vision suddenly filled with the sight of Lucy's bare back. Not that he'd never seen it before –_they already made a child (AND it was not under the influence of alcohol), mind you—_ but it's been a while since he saw Lucy. He returned to reality when Lucy called him again.

"Natsu? Are you okay?" Lucy's now facing Natsu. Her hand was holding the dress above her bust while the other hand touched Natsu's forehead. He blushed as he suddenly turned Lucy around and pulled her dress up.

"I'll just have to zip it up, right?" Lucy nodded. "Dresses are so troublesome. Why do you still wear these kinds of stuff, Luce?"

"Because Natsu—" Natsu finished zipping her dress up and she slightly pulled it to make sure that it doesn't fall. "I have to wear this to the ball. As the daughter of a very important family in this world, I have to be presented nicely. And my mother brought it so I can't really complain—Ah Thank you." Lucy twirled in front of Natsu and smiled. "How is it?"

Natsu eyed her for a moment and stroke his imaginary beard. "It's okay. Nothing different."

Lucy frowned as she clenched her fists. "It's that bad?"

"No, you silly! You don't really have to dress fancy because you're already beautiful just the way you are." Lucy blushed at Natsu's statement. She noted how he said those words without being embarrassed at all.

"Mou. You look so dense yet you say such alluring words." She pouted as she crossed her arms under her chest.

"Hey! You're still calling me dense?" Natsu saw Lucy stick out her tongue before she giggled.

"Maybe?"

As she looked at herself at her full length mirror, she felt a hand that pulled her wrist which made her stumble and lean into something hard and warm. She felt Natsu's chest on her back while she felt a tingling sensation at her earlobe.

"Ne Luce, why don't we get you out of your dress immediately?" He whispered in her ear while completely wrapping his arms around her small frame. "I'll help you." Lucy blushed while glancing at the mirror to look at what Natsu was doing.

'_Oh my God, he looks hot! H-His lips are—' _"B-But I just got into—" She tried to suppress a moan as she felt Natsu's lips nibble on her earlobe. "N-Natsu…"

"I really missed you so much, Luce." He snuggled his face on the crook of her neck. "I was lonely, you know?" His breath was so hot against Lucy's smooth skin. Lucy felt guilty at Natsu's sad words. She felt liquid drip on her shoulder. It was Natsu's tears.

"I went on a lot of missions but they were all boring since you're not there. I became an irresponsible father to Nashi because I always left her at Fairy Tail. My mind and heart were so wrecked after you disappeared. I don't know if you'll forgive me for leaving our daughter…" He sobbed. Lucy pulled away from the hug and faced him. Her face was also in tears but there is a hint of anger mixed with it.

"No, Natsu! You did what you can! I'm sure you left Nashi at the guild because you know that they'll be able to take good care of Nashi! Actually, it's my fault for being weak. If only I was alert enough, this would not happen…" She clenched her fists as she looked down the floor.

Suddenly, she felt something grip her shoulders. "Lucy! Don't ever say that you are weak!" Natsu shouted at her but his expression softened after that. "You are the strong! You are loved by the people of the guild and also by your dear spirits. You are very nice and you smile whatever happens. You don't bear a grudge on people who hurt you deeply. _**Gajeel**_ almost beat you to death but now you're friends with him. You're even helping him court your best friend, Levy whom he tortured in the beginning. _**Flare**_ cheated on you at the Games yet you defended her at the Sun village! You have a heart of gold. I think you're the only person that I know who has the purest heart." He smiled as he pulled Lucy into an embrace. "Also what you did during the Tartaros incident was pretty badass, okay?" Natsu heard Lucy chuckle at his last remark.

"And for that, I fell." Natsu pulled away for a bit and tilted his head while he leaned close to Lucy. "I love you." He dived in and his lips landed on hers. Lucy's eyes were wide as saucers but eventually, both eyes closed and she started giving in to the kiss.

After a few seconds, Natsu then licked Lucy's lower lips begging for entrance. She tasted like strawberries doused with vanilla— a flavor he won't get tired of. She sighed as she slightly opened her lips to let Natsu's tongue remember her taste. Eventually, their tongues hungrily battled with one another but neither party was willing to back out.

Lucy's hands were now fisting Natsu's salmon locks while his hands found the zipper and hastily pulled it down. As the dress fell down her body, she felt Natsu press his body against hers (Her humongous chest was now squished against his lean chest). She kicked the dress on the side to make herself comfortable and succumbed to Natsu's touches. Each of their kisses and touches had a year's worth of longing in it. To Natsu, it felt like it was longer than that and all of the pent up feelings will finally be delivered but to Lucy— she thought it was unfair for Natsu to remember and long for her for a very long time while she was 'sleeping' most of the time. So she thought— he would make him happier by giving him the pleasure that she was not able to give him for the time she was gone. She moaned as she felt Natsu unclasp her brassiere and squeezed the mounds raw. He kissed her neck trailing down to her collarbone to the valley of her breasts. She moaned again as he licked—

And suddenly there was the buzzing sound once again.

Natsu winced at the sound. Now he's annoyed. The first time he heard that sound, his ears almost exploded and he was shoved under the bed by Lucy. This time—_**This time**_ he was enjoying with Lucy and that stupid Dor— whatever would ruin it! He must remind himself to break the damn cockblocker!

The doorbell rang once again and Lucy finally snapped back to reality. With cheeks as red as a tomato, she sighed and spoke, "I-I'll go get it." She sensed Natsu's discomfort with the situation but she smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I'll make it up to you later… okay?" She lightly pushed Natsu and pointed at the tub. "Can you please wait here? Maybe mother forgot something."

Natsu grunted and crossed his arms. "I'm so annoyed with that sound, Luce. Can I break it later? I was having a fun time with you—" Lucy just smiled apologetically and started to grab a white shirt, her _almost_ forgotten bra and a pink denim shorts from the closet. "F-Fine." He pouted.

"Thanks, Natsu! You're the best!" She gave him a peck on his lips once again and ran off to get the door.

"I will really roast that thing to ashes."

* * *

><p>Lucy struggled to quickly put on her clothes – it would be very indecent for a lady to show up naked in front of guests even if it was her mother— then after making sure that her hair looks decent enough, she sighed and grabbed the knob (not even bothering to peek at who her 'guests' are because she assumed that it was her mother) and smiled as she opened the door.<p>

"Mother, did you forget somethi—" Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened at the sight of her dumbfounded guests.

"SHE'S REALLY IN HERE!" The brunette and raven head chorused with their jaws kissing down the floor.

"Ami!? Lester!?" The blonde let out a gasp as she gripped the doorknob harder.

* * *

><p><strong>AN2: Okay I will try my best to get my muse back. A lot's been happening in my plain life so... yeah. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: More than a month of not updating. What am I doing in my life. Sorry.**

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. I own Ami and Lester though.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 07<strong>

Lucy Heartfilia was too late to realize that she should have checked who her guests were first. Heck— she should've just slammed the door shut and never go outside until they were gone.

But no, she just had to let them go inside, sit on the sofa and serve them tea and snacks. She was sipping from her cup of tea when she realized her grave mistake. The poor girl almost choked on her tea when the severity of the situation dawned on her but fortunately, she was able to swallow it just fine.

_'Why am I having tea with them when I was supposed to be kidnapped!? STUPID LUCY!'_ Lucy smacked her forehead and stood up with hands on her hips. "Why are you guys here?" She tried to ask the raven-haired boy and the brunette as calmly as possible to hide her nervousness.

"Well… you were taken away by that guy and we were worried about you so we just had to check your unit first…" Ami replied. "We were not able to go here immediately because the police took some time and the school admin insisted that nobody leaves the school grounds until dismissal." She added.

'_I must cover this up, quickly!' _When she finally got an idea, she straightened her back and told her 'story'. "Ah, that guy was arrested already. He was a creep, you know? Talking about nonsense and other worlds and children— those things are just delusions. Did you think it was real?" Lucy shook her head as she continued, "So I handed his sorry ass into the police and then I got back home safely!" She fist pumped into the air and grinned. Meanwhile, Lucy was internally praying that her friends would buy her cheap lie.

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Natsu was trying his best to not shout at her for talking about weird things like his _sorry ass_.

"Lucy we heard everything loud and clear in the classroom." Ami and Lester deadpanned. From the looks of their faces, they were really unconvinced with Lucy's 'story'.

'_I really can't get out of this.'_ Lucy sweatdropped, "Uhh so you don't believe me?"

"No."

There goes her luck.

Back in the bathroom, Natsu was trying his best not to laugh at the conversation. _'Luce's a horrible liar. And she's supposed to be a writer.' _His thoughts were interrupted though because of a voice that he did not like.

"Lucyyyyy, where is that guy? I have to punish him for being touchy with you!" Lester magically appeared beside Lucy making the blonde slightly startled. "Mouuu, he touched my Lucy with his filthy hands. I cannot believe it!"

'_Is he an idiot?'_ The two girls smacked their foreheads at the same time.

But someone in the bathroom was gripping the edge of the bathroom hard when he heard the lecherous raven boy. His possessive nature is taking over him because another male has approached his lover with obvious intent. Of course, Natsu knew who it was because of his scent. And he didn't like it even one bit,_ 'How dare he call Lucy his?' _

"Uhh Lester I think it's best that you stay away from me…" Lucy sweatdropped as she felt the sudden temperature rise in the unit. Lucy knew that Natsu could hear every word that they were saying because dragon slayers have heightened senses. She knew that dragons are very possessive of their treasures. Since dragon slayers were raised by dragons, their habits and traits were passed on to them through dragon slayer magic which makes dragon slayers possessive of their treasures, too. And she knew that when Lester makes a wrong move on her— a certain dragon slayer's most important treasure, he'll be burnt to a crisp in no time.

"But Lucyyy, I have to disinfect you from that bastard!" Lester whined.

"What now?"

Lester suddenly pulled Lucy against him and hugged her. He pulled away and started to lean closer to Lucy's face. Lucy was struggling to get loose but Lester's grip was too tight. Being a mage, she had the physical strength but she hesitated to use violence on her friend. Well, that was Natsu's thing, not hers. While swimming in her thoughts, Lucy did not realize that their faces were only a few centimeters apart. And then the door slammed open.

"Show's over raven boy. What are you doing to _**my**_ Lucy?" Lucy facepalmed as she finally had the chance to get away from Lester's grip.

"Oh boy, that's why I told you to back off." Lucy said nonchalantly. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'll just call the funeral homes to reserve their services for you." Lucy deadpanned as she started to walk over the phone.

"Nah Luce, you should just prepare a broom to sweep his ashes off later." Natsu cracked his knuckles while smirking evilly at the now shivering Lester.

"Alright, just don't burn my stuff okay?" Lucy changed directions and sat beside Ami (whose mouth was now hanging) instead and elegantly sipped from her tea cup.

"Sure thing." And the next thing that Lester saw was stars.

* * *

><p>Since Lucy's condo unit has no divisions, everything inside the place can be seen in one glance. And so, if one would peek through the unit's door, a battered raven-haired man can be seen sprawled on the floor of the receiving area.<p>

Also, Natsu was grumbling about 'another man's scent in his treasure' and 'must clear it to make Luce clean again'.

Natsu intertwined his hands and stretched his arms forward. When he was done, he reached for the blonde haired girl and pulled her towards him while he sat on the sofa across where Ami was sitting. The sudden movement made Lucy stumble and fall into Natsu's lap. He moved her body so that she could sit properly on his lap while he wrapped his arms around her waist. Now, Lucy was facing towards Ami and Natsu was facing Lucy's back. He briefly buried his head on her back then pressed his cheeks on her right arm so that he could glare at the poor Lester's sorry state.

Lucy felt awkward because of their current position. She sighed. _'Someone's watching us— in an awkward position— for Mavis' sake!'_ She thought. And then Lucy heard a simple cough. It was Ami.

"So Lu-chan, care to explain?" Ami looked at Lucy then at Natsu.

Lucy gulped while she squirmed into Natsu's hold. She knew that Natsu will not let go of her as long as Lester won't back off from her. Well technically, Lester's now kissing the floor unconscious but Natsu still doesn't want to let go. Back to Ami's question, Lucy thought that she should tell her friends about who they really are.

"Sorry, Luce." Natsu frowned because he did not follow Levy's orders of not standing out. But that stupid guy was a threat to Lucy so he was not able to control himself. "You know I can't help it…"

Lucy smiled as she lifted her right arm and swung it around his neck. She ruffled his hair and replied, "It's okay, Natsu. Kinda expected that." She giggled and kissed his head. _'What an adorable dragon.' _She turned to Ami and took a deep breath. She should really spill everything that she knows and then Natsu would fill up the remaining details later on.

"Ami-chan, you and Lester are my precious friends here on Earth so I think you deserve to know what really is happening." Lucy saw Lester reach for an available seat and hauled himself into it so that he could sit down properly.

'_Nope, you had no choice because you were busted because you're a horrible liar.'_ Ami thought.

"First of all, I think we need to introduce ourselves. As you two know, I am Lucy Heartfilia. But what you don't know is that I am a celestial mage—" Lucy then gestured at Natsu. "—and this is Natsu Dragneel, a fire dragon slayer. We are from a guild called Fairy Tail."

"Sup!" Natsu grinned.

Of course, Ami knew about these things already. But she did not expect that the knowledge she gained from Lucy's novel actually exists in real life. Earlier, she put one and one together then bam! She had already deduced that Lucy's novel about Fairy Tail was really about her personal adventures in her world.

But on the other hand, Lester was having a hard time digesting these ridiculous ideas and was about to say something but Ami interrupted him.

"Shut your mouth will you? A fly might come in there." Ami scolded Lester. "Let Lu-chan finish before you do anything stupid." Usually, Ami is a cheerful, sweet girl but now is not a good time to become one. Lester finally closed his mouth and behaved in his seat.

'_Ami-chan's kinda scary…' _Lucy tried to suppress her nervous laugh and continued, "The world that we live in is called Earthland. It's pretty much similar to this world but the technology is different. In this world, machineries and industrialization is the thing but in our world, magic is used for a lot of things. We magic users are called mages. Only ten percent of the population are mages, though." Lucy removed her right arm from Natsu's neck and let both of her hands rest on her lap.

She suddenly remembered the first time that she and Natsu met. She was babbling about mages and guilds without knowing that Natsu was actually a mage himself. She blushed for a bit because of embarrassment.

"You okay, Lu-chan? Your cheeks are flushed."

"Don't worry, I just remembered something." She glanced at the fire dragon slayer and resumed her story. "Mages make a living by doing jobs. These jobs could be anything as long as it requires the assistance of magic. Usually, jobs are mediated by guilds. A guild is an association for mages. It is said that mages won't be considered full-fledged until they join a guild. And Fairy Tail is one of those. Fairy Tail is situated at the city of Magnolia in the Kingdom of Fiore. Currently, our guild's the strongest one out there!"

"And I'm the strongest mage in Fairy Tail!" Natsu interjected.

"Yeah, yeah. Erza and the other S-class mages are stronger than you though." Lucy teased.

"Hah! I'll beat them to a pulp when we get back!"

"Alright, but let me finish first!" Lucy playfully smacked Natsu's head. Ami and Lester sweatdropped.

"Anyway, as I was saying— we mages accomplish jobs in order to make a living. And now I'll explain how I got in your world." Lucy took a deep breath and looked one last time at Natsu. Natsu's right hand moved from Lucy's waist to hold her right hand. He nodded at Lucy and she smiled.

"It started with a simple job of catching a dark mage. A dark mage is someone who uses magic for evil. His name was Kyrios, a portal magic user. He was terrorizing the city of Rosencrow and was making the townspeople disappear. Aside from Natsu and I, our team consisted of the S-class requip mage, Erza Scarlet, Ice-make mage Gray Fullbuster and Natsu's flying blue cat or Exceed, Happy. _Yes, we have a flying blue cat so please gather your jaws from the floor_. Anyway, the mission itself was smooth-sailing. We were able to subdue the dark mage and temporarily tied him to a tree until the Rune knights arrive. The Rune knights act as the police of the magic world. They are directly under the Magic council. The Magic council is comparable to the government here in Earth." Lucy tried to make her explanation as simple as possible that's why she explains magic jargon as she goes.

"Unfortunately, we let our guard down and I was engulfed by shadows. I'm not sure what happened because my senses were already blocked when I realized what was happening but I'm guessing Kyrios attacked me somehow." Lucy looked at Natsu. "Care to enlighten me, Natsu?"

Natsu was frowning while he recalled the event. "That bastard cast his final spell on you. It was a spell that throws you into another world and messes up with your head. That's the reason why you're here and you were not able to remember right away. It convinced you that you are a true citizen of this world. I was furious at that moment but even before I laid a hand on the bastard, he was already dead. Seems like his final spell killed him." He held Lucy tighter as he remembered his wrath and loneliness.

"We never believed that Lucy was dead. We tried to find her everywhere but we had no luck. Levy was the one who figured out that you were in another world. Since Kyrios was already dead, the process of figuring out how to get you back home took a long time." There was a clear sign of sadness shown in his eyes. "But who cares about that now! We just have to get your keys back from your mansion and we can finally go home!" Natsu grinned.

'_He's such a happy-go-lucky guy.' _Ami thought.

"Geez, Natsu." Lucy giggled. "I just realized that this world has an unlimited supply of magic power unlike in Edolas. I mean, I saw you use your fire and we're supposed to get home using my keys. Did someone give you some x-pills or something?"

"Nah. Somehow, Levy deduced that the world that you're in have magic so yeah guess we're lucky." Natsu shrugged.

"Well, that's Levy for you." Lucy smiled as she recalled how intelligent her female bestfriend is.

"Edolas?" Lester inquired.

"Ah sorry. It is another world. Like your world and our world, Earthland. One day, magic users were sucked into an interdimensional hole called an Anima. Edolas' magic supply was running out so the King devised a plan to suck out magic from Earthland— which has unlimited magic supply. It is a parallel world of our world so we got to meet our Edolas counterparts. I'm not sure if Earth is a parallel world but it is definitely in a different dimension."

"We had to battle against the kingdom to stop the King's selfish desire of obtaining magic for his own personal gain. In the end, the three dragon slayers of Fairy Tail— Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel, beat the king. We also found out that one of our guild members was from Edolas and was the prince. He planned to suck out all of the remaining magic from Edolas and transfer it all to Earthland where magic is abundant. He wanted to be the villain but something happened and he got the sympathy of the citizens." She lightly nudged Natsu and snickered at him. Natsu turned away to hide his small blush.

"We got home because we have magic in our bodies so we got sucked into the reverse anima, too." Lucy concluded.

"U-Unbelievable…" Lester gasped.

"Yeah, I know." Lucy grinned.

And then a thought crossed Ami's mind. She knew that her request would sound stupid but she just… had to. It's now or never. "Lu-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Can you show us your magic?"

Ever since she was a child, Ami has been interested in fantasy. She even wanted to have magic. She played pretend games often. And now that her bestfriend's telling her that she's someone that she wanted to be, she wanted to see for herself. Yes, she saw Natsu's fire but it was just a spur of the moment and she wasn't even looking properly at what Natsu has done.

Lucy softened her gaze at Ami. "Actually Ami-chan, you heard that I lost my keys, right? As a celestial wizard, I need my keys to establish a connection between our world and the celestial world to be able to open the gate of a constellation. Unfortunately, I lost my keys so I won't be able to summon my spirits." Lucy noticed Ami's disappointment. "But don't worry, when I get them back, I'll show you my magic!"

"Yeah! And Luce's magic is pretty and strong! Her spirits loves her, too!" The salmon-haired boy exclaimed proudly. "I'll show you mine instead if you want to!" Natsu moved his hand away from Lucy and produced a fire.

"Why give her a choice if you're gonna do it anyway?" Lucy remarked then sighed. "Be careful not to burn anything."

Natsu extinguished the fire and sheepishly grinned.

"Natsu-san, your magic is fire dragon slayer magic, right? So does that mean you killed dragons in order to obtain the magic?" "Ami asked. _'But… maybe it's just a name? There's no way dragons would—'_

"What? No! I was raised by a dragon!" Natsu widened his grin.

"Seriously!?" The non-mages chorused.

The mage couple laughed at their faces full of shock. "Don't worry guys, that's a normal response even in our world." Lucy winked at the two. "But the dragons disappeared seventeen years ago. Natsu has been looking for Igneel but unfortunately…" Lucy frowned and glanced at Natsu who was also frowning.

"But I'll definitely find him someday! I just know it." Natsu's eyes were determined and his heart was fueled with his will to find his foster father.

Ami smiled. She knew that this guy cares for his important people a lot. And now she's convinced that Lucy is safe in his hands. "I know you'll find him, Natsu-san. If you found Lu-chan in another world, then why wouldn't you find a dragon that's as large as a building?"

Natsu laughed. "You're right. Thanks Mami!"

"It's Ami…"

"By the way Lucy-chan—" Natsu glared at the raven-haired boy but he continued anyway. "—Uhm err who's Nashi? You broke down and remembered a lot of things when you heard that name."

Lucy and Natsu looked at each other until they seemed to reach a mutual agreement. They both nodded and Lucy answered, "Nashi is our dear daughter."

"You have a—" Lester pointed at Lucy.

"**We** have a daughter." Natsu emphasized on the first word. The salmon-haired lad smirked as he now revealed his deep connection with Lucy to the cowardly idiot.

"Natsu, I know what you're thinking. You're already twenty. Act like it." Lucy scolded Natsu.

"Ehhhh. What's wrong with telling him that **we **have an adorable two-year old daughter?" The fire dragon slayer pouted but Lucy just shrugged it off.

"O-Oh my… so I really was not hearing things wrong…" Ami spoke as Lester was still fazed. "S-So y-you h-had uhm yeah when you were fifteen?" Ami blushed when she asked the question.

"Fifteen?" Lucy raised her brow in confusion. And then she remembered that she was told by her mother that she's seventeen here in Earth. "Oh! Sorry for the confusion. I had Nashi when I was eighteen. I am actually twenty now. Well… technically I'm supposed to be twenty-seven right now but something happened that made our time stop for seven years so yeah…" The blonde scratched her cheek with her index finger.

"Also, nobody knows Natsu's exact age so we just assumed that we have the same age."

Lester's heart shattered because of the information that has been sinking into his brain ever since Lucy began her story. The love of his life is a magician of another world, has a daughter and is older than him by nine years. She also has an overprotective partner that won't let go of her even now. They did not even blush when Ami asked them the sex question. He wanted to glare at the salmon-haired man who was holding the love of his life in his lap and beat him up to finally get Lucy but he knows that he doesn't have a chance of winning. And he'll feel horrible if he tried to break a family apart. '_Maybe this will be enough as a reason to let go…'_ Lester sighed and scratched his head. "I guess it's over for me huh?"

"What was that, Lester?" Lucy asked as she did not catch what her friend was saying.

"Oh that was nothing, Lucy-chan! I just find it hard to process everything that you had said about your world, that's it." Lester laughed.

"Oh, alright."

On the other hand, a certain fire dragon slayer heard his whisper due to his excellent hearing. His face snuggled Lucy's back and smiled. _'I am actually feeling sorry for the guy. But… hopefully he finds someone else soon.'_ Natsu's not a cruel guy. He might have seen Lester as an enemy for Lucy's affection but he never doubted Lucy's feelings for him so he doesn't really have any hard feelings to the guy. And since he's Lucy's friend, he's kinda his friend, too. Not that he'll admit it though. And he looks like Gray so much.

"Natsu?" Lucy noticed his weird behavior.

"Ah sorry. Do you want me to put you down?"

"Ah no— actually…"

"I suppose that you two are married, aren't you?" Ami interrupted the two. Strangely, even though they did not blush at the sex question, they actually blushed at Ami's wedding question.

"A-Ah n-no…"

'_There's obviously wrong with these two. They're hesitating at the wrong question!'_

"But we will." Lucy's head turned abruptly towards Natsu's direction. His face was still blushing and he was scratching his head but his face was dead serious. He did not stutter at his straightforward answer.

"What?" The salmon-haired boy—no, man said nonchalantly. "Did you not think that I'm gonna marry you?" Lucy sent him an 'I'm-gonna-talk-to-you-later ' look. But eventually, the blonde beauty smiled.

"You two are soooo cute!" Ami squealed as her eyes sparkled in amusement. Lester just 'tsked' but smiled later on.

Lucy and Natsu grinned sheepishly at her remark.

"Aaand it seems that we have interrupted something when we came back here so—" Ami smirked. "We're going to leave soon."

"You bet. I can't stand their flirtiness anymore. I mean, that—" Lester pointed at the pair with Lucy still in Natsu's lap. "Is definitely saying something that we should not stay any longer. And I hated that pink bastard anyway so we'll take our leave." Lester shared a knowing look with Ami and smirked.

"It's salmon, damn it!" Natsu protested.

"You guys!" Lucy's face was now a hundred shades of red. Ami and Lester stood up and gathered their stuff. Natsu finally let go of Lucy so that she could accompany her Earth friends to the door. She gave Ami one last hug before she opened the door.

"Lu-chan, when are you leaving?" Sadness laced Ami's voice.

"I'm going to leave immediately after I get my keys. So I'm gone in the next three days, I think." It pained Lucy's heart to leave her newfound friends in this world but she really had to go back to her Nashi. Nashi can't grow up without a mother—and a father since Natsu's with her now.

"I'm going to miss you."

"Me, too."

Lester was silent the whole time. Lucy's eyes went to his direction and she smiled. "Hey, Lester."

The raven-haired boy looked at the blonde girl as she enveloped him into a friendly hug. "Even if you're annoying sometimes, I'm gonna miss you, too."

Tears sprouted from the corners of Lester's eyes. He couldn't keep his sadness any longer and he cried loudly in Lucy's arms. "Lucy-chaaan!"

"There, there." Lucy patted her friend's hair to soothe him. "Tell the class that I'm just doing fine, okay? I can't have them worried sick about me."

"Okay." Ami replied.

Lester pulled away from Lucy and wiped his face from his tears. Ami and Lester waved one last time at Lucy and walked away from the blonde's home.

Natsu saw the sad parting of the three friends. He did not even glare at the man who was crying at his beloved arms. He knew that he did not mean any harm at all so he did not dare to interfere. Those people took care of Lucy when he was not able to be by her side so he should be thankful to those two. He smiled as he looked to the ceiling and closed his eyes then let out a long sigh. He finally stood up from the sofa and walked towards Lucy. He hugged her from behind to soothe her aching heart once again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know, I know I don't have any excuses aside from writer's block but I'm doing my best to write the rest. I only have one stock chapter left (chapter 8) and chapter 9 is still in-progress. Well... drawing NaLu stuff is part of the reason why I update so late. The urge to draw is overriding the urge to write! Sorry! :(<strong>

**Another part of the reason is reading nalu fanfictions and tumblr. ha...hahahahuhu.**

**But I will not drop this, ever. Eh, I already have the outline so why not finish it? I just uhm write slowly. But my chapters are getting longer (from 1k to 2k+ to 4k+) so yeahhh**

**Thank you for reading! ;u; and favoriting and following and reviewing huhu I love you all!**

**-platinum-breaker**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow I finally updated sorry for the long wait! By the way, chapters 08 and 09 aren't really included in my original plan but eh I wanted to put something two days before the Ball so yeah, have some NaLuuuu.**

**Warning: Just threw a bunch of random stuff in here. Trust me, just... random stuff. lol.**

**(c) Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. I own Lester and Ami though.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 08<strong>

"Thank you, Natsu." Lucy, still caged within Natsu's strong arms, turned around and smiled at her beloved dragon slayer. Natsu tilted his head in confusion and looked directly at Lucy's brown orbs.

"Thanks for what?"

"For finding me." Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck and placed a soft peck on his lips. "For never giving up on me."

Natsu smiled. Lucy's lips were only some millimeters away from his and she could almost feel the movement of his lips. She shyly grinned as she heard his reply.

"You know I never give up on something especially if it's you."

Lucy chuckled but was stopped immediately by Natsu's warm lips. Her eyes widened for a moment but closed it eventually as she relaxed in the kiss. This kiss was not of desire and lust. This kiss was for their never-ending love for each other and it served as a reminder that they will not ever let go of each other. Lucy felt touched at the gentleness ensued by the usually brash fire dragon slayer. She knew she was very lucky that she's the only one who can see and feel this Natsu. She felt Natsu smile in between their kisses and it made her heart swell in happiness because this man is hers— only hers.

They broke away from the kiss and just held each other for a while to enjoy each other's presence.

* * *

><p>There were two students from Yousei Gakuen who were sitting on a bench at a bus stop. It was raining so they decided to wait for the rain to subside before walking home. They did not need to ride the bus because their homes were quite near. The raven-haired boy rested his elbow on the rail while his hand supported his head. He sighed while he watched the rain pour down in the pavement. The brunette was sitting near the raven-haired boy. Her hands were resting on her lap and she occasionally gave glances at the boy beside her. She was also watching the rain. Somehow, the rain makes her feel at ease.<p>

But honestly, she was troubled— troubled because of the silent boy beside her. She knows that he was taking this situation a lot harder than her. She was okay with it because Lucy was subconsciously telling her life story in the form of a novel so she had a vague idea about what was happening but the guy who was head-over-heels with the blonde had no clue about anything at all.

Before, she thought that Lucy would eventually fall in love with Lester. Lester's a cute guy. He's a smart, rich and popular guy. He thought he lost his popularity when he flaunted his love for Lucy in a shameful manner but he made a big mistake about that. He still has his little fanclub but Ami was very annoyed with those bimbos because they treat Lucy like shit (And then Lucy would wipe their faces on the floor after their pathetic stunts— _Hah._). He got everything that any girl would like. She thought Lucy was just being stubborn about her feelings every time she wards Lester away.

Well, Lester was too clingy to Lucy so maybe she was right about peeling him off her using a powerful kick but a little pain wouldn't really matter, right?

But now, she was proved wrong. Lucy will never fall in love will Lester.

Because in another world, there's someone who was willing to take things to the extreme in order to be with Lucy again. And in her heart, there could never be anyone who would replace that person even if her memories were gone. And that's why Lucy would never let a person who is not Natsu Dragneel into her heart.

The mind could forget but the heart— never. Screw science.

Ami gripped her skirt out of frustration. She felt pretty bad for her male friend. And now he looked pretty dazed under the rain—a pathetic sight if you ask her. But she felt like she had to do something. He was still her close friend, after all.

"Lester?"

"Hmm?" Lester replied to acknowledge Ami. He never moved from his position though.

"What are you going to do?"

Now that was a very straightforward way to ask.

"About what?"

"Don't you play dumb with me." Ami hissed.

"Whoa, whoa are you really Ami?" Lester moved his arms defensively from his body while Ami just stared blankly at him.

"Just answer the goddamn question." Ami pouted.

"And you just cursed!?" Lester's jaw slackened at the behavior of the girl beside him. It was so… out of character. He knew her as a gentle and sweet friend of Lucy. And now the very same girl is currently glaring at him and demanding something from him. _'Girls…'_

"Fine, I get it." He rolled his eyes and huffed, "I'm just gonna do nothing. She's happy with the damned pink-haired bastard so I have to let her go."

"You're not going to fight for her?"

"As if I'll survive the fight."

Ami snorted, "That was a good one."

'_He jokes as if he's not hurting anymore.'_

"But I'm gonna miss her real bad when she comes back to her world." He bowed his head in sadness.

"You know, I was thinking of having a crying fest when I get back at home. But then the rain came… it's like it's crying for me." Ami frowned as she directed her gaze at the rain again.

Lester chuckled, "I was thinking of the same thing."

"We got enchanted by her so badly." The two laughed together. And then they heard something similar to a stomach rumbling.

"Uhh… wanna have dinner?" Lester offered.

"So what now, are we gonna run under the rain to have dinner?" The brunette crossed her arms.

"Just come on." Lester pulled Ami's hand and dragged her out of the bus stop.

"Damn it, Lester! I'm soaked!" Ami complained as she tried to break free from Lester's grasp.

"What? I thought you liked the rain?"

"Idiot." Ami pouted.

'_Wow she could be really cute sometimes.'_

"Come on, let's drown our sorrows with the rain— and eat until our stomachs burst!" He grinned.

Ami let out a sigh and smiled. "Fine."

* * *

><p>It was morning.<p>

Lucy's eyes opened and saw flesh instead of her blanket. She lifted her head and smiled when she saw a familiar mess of salmon hair. Both were naked and limbs were in a tangled mess. She blushed when she remembered last night's events. At first she was reading a book then Natsu came out of the shower and plopped onto the bed. She chuckled at the childish behavior of her mate and placed her book at the nearby table. Their eyes met and in a second, they were very much eager to get out of each other's clothes while kissing and touching every part of their bodies.

After the fifth round, they finally dozed off and fell into the position that they were currently in.

She was unaware that a pair of onyx orbs was staring back at her until he pulled her closer to him, "Like what you see?" He grinned.

Lucy snorted. "As if."

"Liar."

Lucy pouted while Natsu laughed. "You are so cute."

She smirked, "Of course, I am." Lucy leaned in and gave Natsu a small peck on the lips.

"What's on your mind?"

"Hmm. Nothing. It's just that I missed this so much…" Lucy averted her eyes from Natsu while she blushed.

"Lucy's a pervert."

"I-I'm not!" Lucy playfully smacked Natsu's arm.

Natsu lightly pushed Lucy's shoulders to make her lie on her back and hovered over her while pinning her hands over her head using his left hand, "And good morning to you, too." He kissed her forehead, then her cheeks and lastly her lips while his right hand crept to her bare belly then to her sides.

"You wouldn't dare." Lucy glared at Natsu who was already smirking.

"Too late."

Lucy squirmed from his grip to avoid the worst thing that would happen until Natsu moved his fingers.

"Ahahah—ahaha..!" Lucy's laughter echoed inside the room while being tickled mercilessly by Natsu. He was now straddling Lucy while keeping her hands up. Ignoring the nakedness of his partner (well, he tried), he removed the blanket to gain full access to Lucy's ticklish parts (namely her sides and thighs). The blonde buxom continued to squirm under Natsu's touches while she struggled to make her hands free.

"N-Natsu… hahaha—! I—" Lucy almost bit her lip, "I-I give!"

Natsu laughed while he released Lucy's hands and then he nuzzled Lucy's neck. Now, their bare chests were touching and Lucy's hands were roaming on Natsu's back.

"You demon." She suddenly slapped his back.

Natsu grinned while squeezing Lucy's body into a hug, "I love you, Lucy."

Lucy smiled, "I love you, too."

They remained in their position for a few minutes until Natsu's stomach grumbled.

"Err…" A crimson flush crept up to his cheeks.

"Wanna eat?"

Natsu flashed his beaming smile to Lucy. Her lips curved upwards after she let out a sigh, "You are always at your peak when it comes to food."

"Nah, you come first."

Lucy blushed then leaned in to kiss Natsu's cheeks, "I'm gonna go prepare something for your bottomless pit." She untangled herself from Natsu's hold (but not before slapping his abdomen to emphasize the 'bottomless pit' part) and eased herself up from the bed. Noticing that her last night's clothes were tattered because of a very eager and destructive dragon slayer, she sighed and just decided to walk around the room naked. Not that there's someone other than Natsu who's gonna look at her right now. She grabbed a nightgown and some underwear from her dresser and walked towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to get dressed first before cooking. You should, too."

Natsu clicked his tongue, "I was kinda hoping to see you naked the whole time."

"Who's the pervert now?"

Natsu stuck out his tongue while Lucy entered the bathroom laughing.

* * *

><p>After having breakfast (in which Natsu devoured a pound of bacon and a dozen of eggs in less than two minutes), Lucy was now washing the dishes while Natsu dried each with a towel while applying some heat into it (Lucy scolded him a lot of times before when he burned the plates and utensils directly with fire).<p>

"You know, I'm curious." Natsu started. Lucy looked at him and raised her right eyebrow to inquire what he meant while passing the newly washed plate to Natsu. Natsu got the plate and wiped it dry before continuing. "I got you from a strange building with weird kids. Why were you there?"

"Strange building with weird kids?" Lucy blinked a few times before realizing what Natsu meant. He was talking about school! "Ah school?"

"Uhh yeah?"

"Hmm." After handing Natsu the last piece of porcelain for him to dry off, she wiped her hands dry using a spare towel then she removed her apron. Natsu also finished drying the plates and looked at Lucy's face. She spoke up, "Guess we didn't have those back at home, eh?"

"Yah."

"A school is a place where kids study."

"Oh, like a magic school?"

"Hmmm quite but it's a bit different. Young kids to teenagers were obliged to study academic stuff like Mathematics, Science and English. Oh so you know, Math involves numbers; Science involves uhh chemicals, life and elements—it's broad actually but you get the gist; and I think English is very familiar to you because it exists in Earthland as well." Natsu nodded.

"Sounds… uhh interesting?" Lucy chuckled at the confused lad in front of her.

"Actually Natsu, sometimes it isn't. It got boring to me actually. I like to read but since I got the highest quality of education that I can get when I was an heiress, the stuff became too repetitive to me— _Oh wait so that's why I get so bored during classes_ _hmm_. But then I have friends at school so I survived. Well, that was before I got my memories so it makes sense to me now."

"Well, I think school is better than Erza." Natsu shuddered at the memory of Erza's tutoring days.

"Ah well… it's Erza. You poor, poor soul." Lucy cooed while Natsu playfully glared at his mate.

"Actually, your explanation sounded foreign to me so I didn't really understand shit. But well, you had a lot to say about school. Did you like the change of scenery?"

Lucy laughed. "I don't know. Maybe I rambled because you're asking me about what school is? Well, it was refreshing but the year could've been better if I was back in Earthland." She smiled sadly while Natsu grinned instead.

"Well, at least you weren't in danger for the past year."

"Well uhh… true. Anyway— now I suddenly remember everyone's faces when they saw you leap from the ground up to the window and then when you showed them your magic!"

Natsu smirked, "I know right."

Lucy snorted as she walked towards the bed and let herself fall to her back. "By the way, Natsu. What do you want to do today?"

Natsu approached the girl and sat on the corner of the bed, "Hmm… what do you always do at this time before?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be at school right now."

"Oooh, we have a rebel in here." Natsu teased.

"Oh, shut up. I shouldn't be there in the first place." Lucy rolled her eyes and grinned, "But seriously, what do you wanna do?"

Natsu plopped beside Lucy making the bed shift due to the sudden weight change, "Personally, I just want to lay down with you in peace."

Lucy giggled at the sweetness of her lover. Who would have thought that the mighty fire dragon slayer of Fairy Tail would settle down with a girl? Everyone thought he would marry his scarf or the guild hall. Her giggles turned into a full blown laughter at her realization. Natsu turned his head towards Lucy's side and stared blankly at her.

"Is it that funny?" Natsu frowned. Did he say something funny?

Lucy was now clutching her stomach while she curled at the bed. She tried to suppress her laughter and wiped a tear on her right eye, "S-Sorry, I just thought of something weird."

"What is it?"

"I just remembered that everyone thought that you were going to marry your scarf or the guild hall." Lucy snickered.

"Oh—Wait what?" Natsu shot up from the bed.

"They even made bets on which one you would marry, the scarf or the guild?"

"What the hell!?"

"Oh trivia, I bet on the scarf."

"How could you—"

"But seriously. Never imagined that you'd knock up a girl."

"You're so mean." Natsu pouted.

"Say that to the guild." Lucy scoffed while she crossed her arms to her chest.

This time, Natsu smirked, "Actually Lucy, that might be a great idea."

"What's the great idea?"

"Marrying my scarf."

Lucy stared blankly at the salmon-haired tease beside her, "Oh my Mavis Natsu, you're gonna cheat on me?"

"**That**'syour problem!?"

"**No**. I should've won the damn bet!"

After a minute of staring at each other, the couple just burst out laughing.

That's the best thing about their relationship. They are not just some plain ol' lovers who just suck faces and go to boring and stuck up dates and whatever— they were best friends first. They do things together as best friends but with a twist in the form of intimacy. They are so comfortable with each other that they could just walk around naked around the house the whole day (but they always decline the idea because it's— according to Natsu— stripper Gray's thing). Jealousy can't really be avoided (Lucy's words: for Mavis' sake, dragon's are super possessive!) but they always address the issue immediately as soon as it appeared. They believe that issues should be resolved as soon as possible to avoid further misunderstandings.

"Since you just wanna lay down here with me today, do you wanna go out tomorrow?" Lucy asked.

"No way, my clothes are kinda inappropriate in this world. Look at how the kids laughed at me back at your school." It was a horrifying moment for Natsu. He wondered how people in Earth have a crooked sense of fashion.

"Oh crap, I forgot that you're actually _**coordinated**_ in what you wear."

"**Lucy.**"

"What? You're pretty useful during my shopping spree!"

"Never mind."

Then an idea struck Lucy, "Actually you know what, we're gonna go shopping today."

He groaned at the mention of the word '_shopping'._ Yes, he is a fashionable guy but he hates shopping. It's a hassle. Sometimes, he just goes to the tailor and have his clothes custom made. It's fire-proof, too. But ever since Lucy found out that Natsu is good at clothes, she decided to always bring him whenever she's going to shop for his opinions. Especially when she was pregnant with Nashi, she always wore fashionable dresses handpicked by the Great Salamander of Fairy Tail. The girls did not believe Lucy when she told her who picked her wardrobe but after a little convincing (which involved playing dress up with the pregnant Lucy), they finally believed the blonde. Natsu justified his _services_ by saying '_I just wanted the best for Luce so I'll do it for her—_ _**only her**_'. Luckily, the girls got the hint and never asked him for his advice.

"What happened to agreeing with the idea of just staying in bed here with me?"

"Eh we'll just go in the afternoon." Lucy shrugged.

Natsu noticed her tone. She did not ask. It was a statement so there no way he could oppose Lucy the way it is right now. She could be scarier than Erza if she wants to. _'Just when did the mighty Salamander get wrapped around Lucy's cute little finger?'_ He sighed and just resigned to his fate.

"Fine, Lucy. Just remember that I don't have anything on me."

"It's fine, I have a lot saved up."

"Wow, that's new."

"**Natsu.**"

"A-Aye sir!"

* * *

><p>It's now one in the afternoon.<p>

And as planned, Natsu and Lucy lazed around in bed the whole morning. No naughty stuff, just cuddling and some tickling here and there. After they ate lunch, Lucy hoped that she'd be able to find something for Natsu to wear temporarily when they shop for his clothes later on.

Luckily, Lucy found an oversized shirt in her dresser for Natsu. It was a plain black shirt and is perfect against the whiteness of Natsu's scarf. His baggy pants stayed because it still looked okay with the other clothes. Lucy insisted that he wears a cap and shades just in case they bump into one of her classmates—which is highly unlikely because it's still within class hours. They didn't want any unwanted attention after all. After Lucy dressed in a simple blue shirt and denim shorts, they went out of her unit to find clothes for Natsu.

(Suddenly, she realized that the reason why she wouldn't wear revealing clothes before her memories came back was because she had a daughter and she wanted Natsu to be the only one who sees her curves. Why wear those kinds of clothes if the person she wants to impress is already head over heels for her even if she covered herself in mud and filth? And Lucy was very thankful that Virgo's always there to fill in her new wardrobe. Celestial clothes are very stylish, indeed. And don't forget about Natsu's incredible fashion sense.)

Anyway, since Lucy's going to leave Earth about two days from now, she thought that she might as well spend all of her savings. She had a lot of money from the part-time jobs that she took in order to fund her education and daily expenses. And since she'll no longer pay for her education and spend for her daily needs here on Earth, she's going to exhaust everything here. She even saved up for university so she had a **lot** to spare. She figured that she can't bring her money in Earthland because of the difference in monetary value.

She ignored the throbbing pain in between her thighs and pulled Natsu towards a clothing store nearby.

Without compromising the style, Natsu hastily picked a white body fit shirt and a black long-sleeved cardigan. He told Lucy that the clothes looked awesome with his scarf. Lucy helped him pick a gray cargo pants and a belt to match Natsu's pick.

"Honestly, I thought you're gonna go for red."

"Nah, I wanted to have some dark colors with me today."

"You really are conscious about clothes, aren't you?"

Natsu snorted in reply. After Lucy paid for the clothes (along with the other types of clothes that he'd be wearing for the next two days— which strangely included a suit and tie for _emergency purposes_), they went to a shoe shop to find a pair of 'awesome boots' for Natsu. He suddenly wanted to wear boots along his new clothes stating that 'boots should go with these cool clothes'.

Lucy found a pair of black combat boots with lots of buckles in it. She thought it was cool so she grabbed Natsu so that he could see the pair.

"I think this might go well with your clothes." Lucy smiled.

Natsu examined the shoes. The buckles were shiny and it looked bad-ass. It reached his mid-calf. His eyes glittered as he grabbed Lucy's hands and exclaimed in delight, "This is so cool, Luce. You're the best!"

"Geez, no need to overreact, it's just a damn pair of boots." As Natsu grabbed the shoes, Lucy led him to the cashier. After handing the money, Lucy realized that her food supply quickly decreased because of Natsu's arrival.

She turned to Natsu who was carrying three shopping bags with him, "Natsu, I think I might need to restock food for my place."

At the mention of the word 'food', Natsu's attention went full blast on Lucy (as if it isn't already) and showed his toothy grin, "Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way, milady." He slightly bowed while making Lucy walk first.

Lucy chuckled as she happily skipped towards the grocery, "Oh you."

After an hour and a pile of groceries later, Lucy and Natsu went out of the grocery to go home. Natsu insisted to carry all the bags but Lucy was being stubborn on taking half. But even before Lucy protested again, he hogged all of the bags and started walking outside. Lucy sighed in defeat and followed her cute salmon-haired fire dragon slayer.

She tried to catch up with Natsu but the pain between her legs was keeping her for speeding up. Fortunately, Natsu stopped at the corner to wait for her.

"Finally, you remembered about me." She said with sarcasm.

He set down the bags (three from clothes store and five from grocery) and crouched in front of Lucy, his back facing her. Lucy stared blankly at Natsu, not really sure of what's happening.

"Uhhh, Natsu what are you doing?"

"Giving you a ride?"

"But how would you carry our stuff? And you won't let me help you." She pouted. She really wanted to help him carry those.

"Luce, just get on."

"Why?"

Natsu was getting frustrated. How the hell is he going to say that to her?

"Oi, Natsu it's cold here—"

"Aren't you sore from last night?" There.

"W-Wha?"

"I kinda noticed you're limping—"

"Natsu!" She blushed a million shades of red.

"Sorry. But just get on, this position hurts."

Lucy wanted to die here and now due to embarrassment. She ignored the pain the whole day and now Natsu just mentions it without being fazed at all.

"_**Lucy."**_ Lucy was startled by Natsu's irritated voice (he faked it by the way).

"A-Aye sir." She began to climb Natsu's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He picked up the bags before hooking both arms under Lucy's thighs. He was careful in positioning her because any harsh movement would hurt her. Lucy buried her head deep into Natsu's scarf to hide her face from the staring crowd. A man who's carrying a girl in a piggyback ride and with eight shopping bags in the sidewalk was quite a sight.

"Geez. The reason why I didn't want to go out because you're still hurting, Luce. And then you went 'shopping mode' and shit."

So that's why.

Lucy smiled and lifted her head to give Natsu a kiss on his right cheek.

"You're the best, Natsu."

"Of course." He scoffed in reply. "I try really hard just for you, you know?"

"Aww I caught really caught the big fish!" Lucy cooed.

"Eh, I don't want Happy to eat me and I'm a dragon, Luce."

She ignored his comment and complained,"Damn, it really hurts though. Your fault."

"That means I'm super great." Natsu's face was smug.

"Psh whatever, Natsu."

"But it's true, right?" Natsu teased the blonde once more.

Lucy ignored his remark once again and pointed her arm towards her condominium building. "Go forth my horse, to the castle we return!"

Natsu laughed as they went back to her condo unit.

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the couple did not notice that a black car has been following them ever since they went out of the supermarket.<p>

"Lucy-san, huh?" The car window rolled shut as it passed by Natsu who was giving Lucy a piggyback ride.

"Interesting."

* * *

><p><strong>AN2: AAAnd because of the last part, my original outline became a little bit of a mess. Watch out for a new OC later on! I might not update next month because I'm going to revise the story starting from chapter 10. I'm a bit confused with how I'm gonna do it so I'll take a bit break to think about it. I bet I'm going to stress about this LOL. <strong>

**Since everyone will be busy for the Christmas and New Year celebrations, I might update next year. (Whoaaa 2014 will be over in a month.)**

**And I have tons of nalu to draw so yeah =)) (It's ironic that I'm an artist and I did some fanart for other fanfics yet my fanfics didn't have art HAHA damn)**

**Thank you for supporting my story! Those reviews, favorites and follows make me happy. But just simply reading it makes me happy, too! So thank you so much! :D (Even if I update so slow... *cries*)**

**~platinum-breaker**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING FOR MONTHS. I was drawing and yeah huhuhu. Anyway, this chapter is basically a mess. It's kinda a filler because idk I needed something before the actual ball so yeahh. This is a filler-ish chapter but you have to read it or you'll miss something important! (Filler-ish because this was not included in my original outline.) Uhm I think this is full of fluff? I don't know but heehee naluuuu. Enjoy heehee.**

**Warning: This fanfic is set after the Tartaros Arc. But the dragons didn't appear to destroy FACE and Igneel wasn't dead and Natsu isn't E.N.D. and the guild did not disband… FT deactivated FACE on their own and defeated Tartaros and E.N.D... you get it. I started this fanfic in June so yeah, it's around Lucy vs. Mard Geer so the setting is that plus years later, yeah?**

**Uhh quick summary so far? **

**After months of being comatose, Lucy was peacefully living her high school moments at a school and then one day Natsu comes barging in claiming that he's taking her home with him. She was taken aback that Natsu looked like the Natsu in her novel, Fairy Tail. But then he said Nashi's name and Lucy's sealed memories before she got into coma were triggered remembering her life as a mage, and her lover and daughter. Seems like a dark mage sent Lucy into another dimension after a mission and was missing for a year. To get back to Earthland, she needs Virgo to dig an interdimensional hole that connects Earth and Earthland. But the problem is… her keys were missing. Her mother's Earth counterpart, Layla, came over and told her that the keys were in the Heartfilia estate treasury. Lucy was informed about the Heartfilia ball at the estate and the couple planned to infiltrate the party to search for her keys.**

**If you don't remember… don't worry, I forget sometimes, too. Hahaha. Feel free to reread if ever.**

**© Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 09<strong>

It was the day before the Heartfilia ball. According to Lucy, the Heartfilia ball is an event where she's going to be auctioned to the highest bidder by her _great_ 'father'. _Too bad, she had other plans for that day_. But for now, Natsu and Lucy just decided to just chill out in the blonde's condo unit and prepare for the _big_ day.

They woke up early but both Earthland mades were too lazy to get out of bed. Lucy wasn't going to attend school again anyway so she had the luxury to just laze around with her boyfriend under the sheets. Who's gonna blame her though? She's been away from her family for a year _without_ her knowledge because her memories were tampered with. That really sucked.

Lucy tightened her grip at Natsu's torso and leaned at his well-built chest to make sure that it was real. That she was really with the love of her life— with _Natsu_.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" A husky voice interrupted the blonde's musings and she turned her head towards her lover.

"Nothing, Natsu. Just… giving myself a reality check." Lucy chuckled then pecked Natsu on the cheek.

"Well aren't you slow, Luce." Natsu smirked as he teased Lucy.

"Mou." Lucy pouted which earned a soft kiss from the fire dragon slayer.

"I'm here, Lucy. I'm real. Not some character from a book—"

"Hey!"

Natsu grinned as he held the blonde tighter in his arms, "— But I still can't grasp the fact that I finally have you in my arms."

"Well, aren't you slow." Lucy retorted sarcastically while she playfully waved her hand in the air.

This time, Natsu was the one who pouted. "Gee, thanks."

"Haha, love you." Lucy propped herself using her elbow so that she could lean into the dragon slayer's forehead for a kiss.

"Love you, too."

"Anyway, I have to take a shower so excuse me—" Lucy tried to pry herself from her lover's grasp but failed, "Natsuuuuu, let gooooo."

"No."

"I feel ickyyy— let me have some bath tiiiime." Lucy whined while still trying to escape from her human cage.

"But I wanna keep you here—" Natsu whined back to his blonde girlfriend, "Or is this a ploy to make me have a bath with you?" Natsu slyly added.

"What? No, you pervert!" Lucy smacked Natsu's chest. "Ugh lucky me, I'm stark naked and icky and sweaty and apparently I don't even have the right to take a bath— this is the life." She deadpanned.

Natsu laughed at Lucy's antics, "You drama queen. C'mon, let's take a bath." He put Lucy's arms around his neck and sat up pulling her along with him. He reached for her legs using his left hand while the other hand was around her waist. He hoisted her up and went to the direction of the bathroom.

"Ugh— this is _so_ your plan."

"Whatever, Lucy."

"Ugh."

* * *

><p>"This is so relaxing…" Lucy snuggled further at her boyfriend's well-built body while he hummed in agreement. Lucy was seated between Natsu's legs with her back against his chest. His hands were gripping the sides of the bathtub and his head was leaning at the edge making him face the ceiling.<p>

"Ne, Natsu?"

"Hmm?" Natsu moved his head down and looked at his girl with his eyebrow raised as a sign of acknowledgement while the blonde turned her head towards Natsu. He noticed that Lucy was kind of fidgety and nervous about something he didn't know. He nudged the blonde to continue her inquiry.

Lucy seemed hesitant at first but her eyes were suddenly full of determination when Natsu urged her to continue. She swallowed the lump formed in her throat and spoke, "Can you tell me about the others back home at Fairy Tail?"

"So that's what's bugging you?" Natsu smiled as he nuzzled Lucy's neck, "Of course, I'll tell you. Just name people and I'll tell you something about them— well I already told you about Levy though. I think I won't be saying much though because I'm always out on missions or with Nashi at home." '_Or at some clearing in the forest just looking at the stars because they remind me of your beauty', _Natsu added but decided to not blurt out his thoughts_._

Lucy could feel Natsu's voice laced by bitterness when he spoke his last statement. She began to caress his hair and hummed her thanks, "Thank you, Natsu. It's okay, you know you're doing your best to cope. Don't worry, I'm here."

"You really know me, huh?"

Lucy snorted. "Of course. You're too simple-minded."

"As if that's bad."

"I didn't say anything about it being bad. Actually, that's one of the things that I love about you." She gave him an Eskimo kiss while they grinned. "How's Happy?"

"Oh yeah, before I answer, I'm warning you about their reactions… it's not good."

"It's okay. Their suffering is nothing compared to what I'll feel later because during your time of grief, most likely I'm just sleeping."

Natsu frowned at this, "Sorry Lucy. If only—"

Lucy put her finger against Natsu's lips, "Hush, just start telling me about them, okay? I'll be fine. You're here. It'll be like a storytelling session. Besides, we're going to come home soon and have a week-long party at the guild."

Natsu nodded before finally answering her question, "Hmm, before I went here, he was always with me – whether if it's on a mission or just at home with Nashi. Your disappearance… he took it badly. That cat really loves you. He cries whenever he hears your name. His whimpers were unbearable to hear but Happy started to calm his nerves when Nashi pinched his cheeks then frowned at him. It's like saying that Happy shouldn't cry too much because you're coming back."

"Really? Our baby girl did that?"

"Yeah. I was there when it happened. Nashi reached for his _uncle_ and pinched him hard. Then she showed him her sad face— take note, her eyes were glassy and oh god even I got affected by the kid—"

"Wow, I can imagine her face. I doubt that I could resist that face."

"See? She's so hard to resist. Of course, everyone knows that our girl is the most adorable baby in the planet and we're all basically whipped by her."

"You mean, _you're_ whipped."

"Hey!" After a few seconds of silence, he added, "… yes."

Lucy giggled. "But Happy… is he alright now?"

"I left him in Lisanna's care when I left. He promised Nashi that he will not cry anymore and he'll prepare a lot of _fat_ comments when you come back." Natsu snickered.

"That stupid cat."

"Also he will prepare the most oily and fatty food for you in your party." Natsu laughed when Lucy smacked him in the chest.

The laughter subsided and then Lucy continued to ask. She decided that she'll ask about her precious daughter last.

"How about your dear friend, Gray Fullbuster?" Lucy teasingly smirked at her boyfriend who was ticked off by the 'dear friend' comment.

"Who told you he's _that _to me_?_" Ignoring the blonde's snort, he continued, "Well, whatever. Because of what happened to you, he started to notice Juvia bit by bit—"

"It's about damn time!"

"Well, the bastard's slow but he's getting there. He looked pretty pathetic whenever he tries to make a move on her— I think he wanted to be subtle. And he's failing at that."

Lucy snorted, "I still can't believe you realized your own feelings first before anyone did—"

"Hey!" Natsu protested.

"But it's quite relieving that something good happened because of my disappearance."

Natsu frowned, "Don't say it like that Lucy. Gray wouldn't like it either if he heard you like that. He was really planning on pursuing Juvia soon. It doesn't really matter if you disappeared or not. I'd rather have you than nothing." He tightened his grip on his favorite girl.

"I'm sorry, Natsu. Maybe I'm just finding the good in mishaps."

"I know. It's because you're that kind of person, Luce."

Lucy smiled, "I just hope Gray and Juvia will come to terms when we get back. It'll be a double celebration!"

"And I'll never live it down." Both of them laughed.

"Anyway, how about Erza?" Lucy imagined that Erza might also be taking this hard. She had the strength to fight yet she wasn't able to save her team mate— her sister. "Is she okay?"

Natsu smiled as he sensed Lucy's dilemma, "Don't worry about Erza. She's strong. And she said that to make up to you, she'll take on a lot of missions hoping that she would find anything about your predicament. She's been helping Levy obtain rare books that was often a reward or… you know Erza's ways. "

"_It's Erza! I bet she threatened a lot of people." _Lucy grimaced at the thought. "Yeah. I should probably treat her to a lot of strawberry cakes in the future."

"Lucy, I hope you know what you're saying."

The last time Erza was rewarded her favorite treat, the Master went broke because she ordered everything on the bakeshop. It was a horrific day for the poor Wizard Saint.

"Hence the _probably."_ Lucy added.

"Good to know that our funds won't be bankrupt soon."

Lucy giggled and pinched Natsu's right cheek, "Who's the one always destroying stuff on missions, eh?"

"Hey! I really earned a lot when I was moping around!"

Lucy snickered, "So you were moping around…"

"Lucyyyyyyyyy"

She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him close, "You're just too adorable, Natsu."

Natsu snorted and then whispered, "I'm not adorable, I'm manly."

"Yeah, whatever Natsu~" Lucy grinned and made herself comfortable in Natsu's arms. Now that she's hugging him, her head rested at his shoulder while her sides were leaned against his muscular chest. He shifted his hold so that his hand was splayed against Lucy's thigh while the other was on her hip. After a few seconds of silence, the hand that was on her hip began to move upwards, trailing his heat towards her arms, shoulders, neck, and finally her head. He caressed Lucy's cheek lovingly while letting out an overdue sigh.

"But really Lucy, it broke me to pieces. I'm pretty sure if Nashi wasn't around, I won't be able to stay sane to fetch you. I have probably demolished the new guild hall to smithereens if wasn't for her. The dat when I returned home alone, she was looking for her mother. _For __**you.**_ I wasn't really thinking when I suddenly blurted out that you were gone after that horrible mission. And then to my utter horror, I realized that she could understand what I was saying when her eyes were brimming with tears as she tried to reach out for my face." Natsu took a deep breath and continued, "That' when I also realized that I should put my shit together— at least in front of our daughter."

* * *

><p>"<em>What am I doing?" Natsu ran his fingers on his head while letting out a frustrated sigh. He took some deep breaths and turned to his crying daughter.<em>

_He mustered a fatherly smile, "Sorry about that my princess. Daddy was just so hurt about Mommy. Will you forgive Daddy?"_

_As if she understood her father's words, the infant touched Natsu's cheek and stopped crying._

"_Thank you my princess. I promise that I'll bring Mommy back okay?" Natsu picked up his daughter from the bed and hugged her close, "So for a while, I'll tell you lots of stories about Mommy and Daddy's adventure, okay?"_

_The infant showed her father an adorable toothless smile that could warm up anybody's heart._

"_I'm so glad I have you, Nashi."_

* * *

><p>"And since I have you in my arms again, I'm so excited to come home and surprise our little princess!" Natsu squeezed his girlfriend while Lucy let out a small squeak in return.<p>

"Yeah, I'm really excited. I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow."

"Well, you know us Fairy Tail mages, we attract danger so I won't really keep my hopes up for peace if I were you."

"Thanks a lot, Dragneel." Lucy's voice was oozing with sarcasm while Natsu just laughed it off.

"And I love you, my queen." Natsu pecked Lucy on the lips and hugged her tightly.

"You're so lame."

"You're welcome."

"… love you too."

Silence ensued for a few minutes until Lucy spoke again.

"… H-How's our daughter, Natsu?" Lucy blinked back her tears to keep them from falling down. "I-I miss her so much. Did she say her first word already? Oh God I missed a crucial time in her life— will she forgive me? Will she ever accept me back as her mother? I'm a horrible—"

"Don't you dare continue that sentence, Lucy." Natsu growled while he gripped her arms tightly— but not enough so hurt her. "Nashi is fine. No, she can't speak yet. Yes, you might have missed a year's worth of memories with her but when we come back, we'll just make more! And don't you forget who her parents are— are we unforgiving of our _nakama?_ If you're very forgiving, then Nashi will be forgiving too. She's too pure and she'll never shun you out of her life."

Lucy stared at Natsu, still processing his words. He continued.

"If she senses our sadness, she's the one who pulls us back up. A simple touch on my cheek from her would make me feel better. Her eyes, which are beautiful like yours, has more than enough warmth and security for the both of us. And of course, she misses you. But our baby girl did not like the horrible aura of sadness emanated by our friends so she became the light of the guild in her own little ways. She always manages to reach out to every single one of our friends. But I know that she's hurting, too. She's only a year old— well, she's turning two— but she's very understanding. That's why I asked Reedus to paint a picture of you and put it in a frame so that Nashi could hug it whenever she misses you." Natsu smiled and caressed Lucy's cheeks lovingly.

He gently kissed Lucy on the lips then hugged her. "She's selfless like her mother— the one who fanned my flames and the love of my life."

"Oh Natsu." She was so touched by the man's words. She buried her head on the crook of his neck and then whispered, "I'm excited get this over with and go home… I miss living in our home with our daughter, merrymaking with our _nakama_, taking missions with our team… heck I even miss Happy's insults…"

He chuckled at the blonde's declaration. "Don't worry, Luce. We'll come home very soon."

Still not breaking the hug, Natsu ran his right hand up and down Lucy's back and then after a few minutes of silence, he spoke again.

"Hey Lucy."

"Hmm?"

"I'm feeling nostalgic."

"Uhh you're feeling nostalgic yet you sounded like someone who's going to be sick. We aren't on transportation, Natsu."

"Silly Luce. I just remembered the day when we finally got together."

Lucy blushed hard as soon as she heard Natsu's words. "W-what are you, an old man?"

"Wow I must be pretty hot and damn good looking for an old man then." Natsu snickered as he flexed his bicep. Lucy slapped him on the chest. Hard.

"Oh my Mavis, Natsu! Seriously, what in the world!?" Lucy sputtered as she stared wide-eyed at her silly boyfriend. Natsu just laughed.

"But really Lucy. I just realized that we looked like an idiot around each other and the guild was so damn frustrated about it. Man, I still remember their faces—I won't ever forget about that!" Natsu laughed again but this time Lucy joined him.

"Well, while I felt quite bad about hiding our relationship— even if it was unintentional, I can't deny that I enjoyed the sight when we announced… my pregnancy. That was hilarious!"

"I know right!"

"We both forgot to tell the guild about us and they just dismissed our actions as friendly ones."

"Haha well…"

"Well at least we didn't forget telling them about Nashi…" Lucy joked.

"Exactly! Aw man, thinking about it, the day when we got together was very dramatic." Natsu looked Lucy in the eye and smiled.

"…yeah." Lucy closed her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, it was."

* * *

><p><em><strong>X791<strong>_

_Today's the day that Natsu Dragneel __**will**__ claim what's his._

_It was a month after the Tartaros incident. The whole city was still recovering from the damages done by the battle between Mages and Zeref's Demons._

_Even though the Fairy Tail guild was busy rebuilding their own guild hall (for the third damn time for Mavis' sake), they were also helping the citizens rebuild their homes. After healing enough, the Fairy Tail mages has set out to help the most that they can._

_And now, Natsu was standing in front of his favorite blonde celestial mage's apartment— which was miraculously spared by the attack. He was given a few hours off (well, he was kicked out literally) by Erza because she noticed that Natsu was spacing out too much and is pretty much useless. _

_And yes, Natsu was spacing out too much because of the blonde. He didn't know the details because Lucy wasn't really comfortable telling the depressing tale and he's not going to push it until she's ready but he knew that she saved everyone's asses by summoning the old man (Celestial Spirit King) and breaking whatever curse the demon bastard Mard Geer casted. _

_After the battle, Lucy seemed like her usual self. After recovering, she helped immediately in the repairs. But Natsu knew better. Lucy's smiles did not reach her eyes. And her eyes— Oh dear her eyes. It lacked the usual luster that made her chocolate orbs special. Whenever he looked at Lucy's eyes, instead of joy, he felt sorrow, grief, emptiness and regret. He knew something happened—and the broken golden key that he saw her clutching near her heart confirmed it. Lucy wasn't very Lucy-like to Natsu anymore._

_He jumped and latched his hand on the edge of Lucy's window. He knows that it was always unlocked because she gave up on telling her two best friends to use the damn door. He opened the window and let himself in. Although, he noticed a big lump under Lucy's duvet._

'_She's already sleeping at three in the afternoon?' Natsu thought._

_Natsu landed on Lucy's bed carefully to not wake the blonde. But the sudden shift of the mattress made Lucy stir from her sleep. _

"_Nachuu?" Lucy slurred— still groggy from her nap._

"_Yeah, Luce. It's me." Natsu sat at the other side of the bed and patted Lucy's head._

_Lucy removed the duvet covering her face to look at her bestfriend. And that's when he noticed her tear-streaked face. He frowned and wiped a stray tear from her cheek._

"_Hey, what's wrong?" _

_Lucy averted her gaze from Natsu and bitterly smiled. "Nah nothing. Maybe I had a nightmare."_

_Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Maybe?"_

_Lucy sat up and leaned her back on the headboard. She continued to smile but looked down at her lap. She knew Natsu wasn't buying it. Then, she felt her hand being tugged and she was pulled towards the salmon-haired man. She didn't have the time to think about what was happening until she was encased into a warm embrace by the fire dragon slayer._

"_It's okay Lucy. It will be fine." Natsu stroked Lucy's mane slowly and tucker her head under his chin. "I'll be here for you. I'll never leave you."_

_Lucy was touched by the affectionate gesture of her bestfriend. She knew that she couldn't hold the dam any longer so she let it go. And she needed to move on. She needed someone to help her to let go._

"_Natsu…" She sobbed in Natsu's scarf and gripped his one-sleeved jacket firmly. "I miss Aquarius…"_

"_That mermaid lady?" He felt Lucy nod. "Why?"_

"_I broke her key…"_

_Natsu gasped. So the broken key was…_

"_I-I was able to summon three spirits at the same time. I-I had to because I had to save you guys. I was supposed to die yet I survive summoning three. But A-Aquarius told me that I need someone who's stronger than the Zodiac— the Celestial King. S-She said that I am eligible because I can summon three spirits at the same time without dying. B-But I needed to break a golden key to summon the Celestial King. I-I didn't really want to s-sacrifice anyone of t-them but—" She sniffed and sighed then continued, "A-Aquarius…"_

"_She forced you to break her key…" Natsu whispered while holding Lucy tighter at the same time._

"_S-She… the golden key and the master should have a strong bond and… s-she told me that we w-were bonded enough and—" Lucy sobbed harder and buried her head deeper in Natsu's scarf._

"_You don't need to say more… I understand Lucy." Natsu continued to hold Lucy while stroking her back, "I understand… shhh. Don't cry. Don't cry. The reason why she did that was because she loves you. Shh. She loves you and wants you to survive…" Natsu cooed._

"_S-She's m-my friend… I-I've deprived her of her right to come to the human world…"_

"_But she's still alive right? You can ask your other spirits about her— or send her stuff or even travel to the Celestial world! Bring me, okay?" Natsu pulled away from the embrace and smiled at her. "It'll be fun!"_

_Despite her tears, Lucy managed to smile— the first genuine Lucy smile ever since the Tartaros incident. _

"_T-Thank you so much, Natsu." This time, Lucy was the one who hugged Natsu. "Thank you for always making me smile."_

"_Your smile is the one that I live for, Lucy." Natsu touched their foreheads together and stared at her sparkling, chocolate orbs. "I'll do anything to keep that smile of yours going."_

_Lucy blushed at Natsu's words. She never thought that Natsu could spew words like that._

"_R-Really?"_

"_M-Mhmm."_

"_Why?"_

'_This is it.' Natsu closed his eyes but not breaking their contact and sucked in a breath._

"_Because you're the most important person to me."_

_If Lucy could blush any deeper, she would. 'D-Did Natsu just…'_

_Natsu continued, "I love you."_

_And now Lucy looked like a blonde-haired tomato._

"_O-of course… w-we're n-n-nakama…" Lucy stuttered while avoiding eye contact with Natsu._

"_I love you as a lover. As a wife."_

_Lucy's eyes widened at the fire dragon slayer's confession. "W-What?"_

"_Sorry. I just can't help myself anymore. If this isn't romantic love, I don't know what this is. I've almost lost you lots of times already at it breaks my heart every single fucking time. I realized that I can't live without you anymore. That you should remain as an integral part of my life. That I love you damn too much for you to become other man's beloved. I'm tired of being selfless— I want to be selfish. I want you for myself— I need you." By the end of his speech, Natsu's face was very red because of his intense blush. Meanwhile, Lucy tried to cover her face hoping that she would stop her face from reddening even further._

"_I-is this really Natsu…?" Lucy thought out loud earning a chuckle from her best friend._

"_Why can't you believe it?"_

"_B-because you're Natsu and… fights… Igneel… priority…" Lucy started to mumble incoherent words that made the dragon slayer laugh._

"_I just needed to claim what's mine, Lucy—that's all. So…" Natsu grabbed Lucy's hands and placed a kiss on each one and gazed at Lucy's eyes intensely. "Will you be mine?"_

_She didn't hesitate. She knew that this boy— no man— is the one who she's destined to be with. She also knew that she had already given up her heart to him since a long time ago. She knew that she couldn't pass up his offer so she lunged at him while crying._

"_Idiot! That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard! Why would I say no!?" Natsu just laughed at the sobbing blonde while holding her tightly to cushion their fall into the bed due to Lucy's previous action._

"_Great! It'll be fun, I promise! And we'll have lots of adventures together!"_

"_Mhmm!"_

"_Lucy?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_M-May I kiss you?" _

_Lucy sat up from the hug and straddled Natsu's waist. She noticed that Natsu turned his head away and his cheeks were dusted with pink. She smiled and placed her hand on his cheek._

"_Of course you may."_

"_Okay."_

_Natsu held Lucy's hips so that she wouldn't fall off when he sits up. And when he did, he cupped her cheeks and leaned in. He stared one last time at Lucy's eyes before he finally closed the gap._

_The kiss felt amazing. Both had no idea if they were doing it the right way because that was their first kiss but neither cared. One kiss was followed by another… and another… and another— they were intoxicated with each other that they can't stop. They never noticed that they fell back into the bed— that Natsu was hovering over her— and that they were memorizing each other's touches. But they both knew that they couldn't go further because they just got together. Lucy was the one to pull away first, leaving a whining Natsu._

_Lucy bumped her forehead against Natsu to catch on their breathing. Then, she smiled and looked at Natsu._

"_I never answered you so…" She gave him a peck on the lips and continued, "I love you, too."_

_Natsu smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Lucy."_

"_No—Thank you, Natsu."_

* * *

><p>The two had been on the bath for too long now so they decided to finally get out. Natsu stood up first to get the towels from the closet. He dried himself using his flames and covered his waist using a small towel. He returned to the blonde's side and opened up a large towel so that he could dry her off with it. Lucy stood up and let Natsu cover her with the towel. She got off the bathtub with Natsu's help and went to the closet. But she didn't expect another hug from the salmon-haired male.<p>

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned.

"Lucy."

"Hmm?" She did not deny the wonderful feeling of her mate's warmth so she sank into it deeper.

"Will you marry me?"

"Idiot, really? A proposal in the bathroom?"

"Well, it's not a typical 'Natsu' proposal if it's not unusual."

"Point taken."

"So?"

"I'll answer you after we get my keys."

"What the hell, Lucy? You're so mean!"

"Eh, suck it up. You proposed in a bathroom. And get me a ring first!"

Natsu just laughed and then kisses her passionately once more before they put on their clothes.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OH DEAR LORD I HAVEN'T WRITTEN THE NEXT CHAPTER YET. So I'm sorry but it might take a while. I write slow… and I only have few select days when I'm in the mood to write… ;u;<strong>

**I try really hard to write reader-worthy chapters even though I don't write that well haha. But I thank the readers for keeping up with me. Thanks a lot! :D**

**Chapter 10 is the ball! I hope. LOL. Wish me luck haha!**


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